*Ø* Blogmanac April 30 | Witching night

Walpurgis night, Finland, Sweden and Germany

The wheel of the year has rolled a little further through the seasons and now we find ourselves at one of those eight stations of the year at which the veil between the mundane and spirit worlds is a little thinner.

The four main stations ('grand sabbats' in the Neopagan tradition) are the two equinoxes and two solstices.

Halfway between each of these are the other significant days, the lesser sabbats, together making this list:

Midwinter/Yule (Christmas), on the Winter Solstice
Imbolc, on February 2 and the preceding eve
Ostara, on the Spring Equinox
Beltane/Beltaine/May Day on May 1 and the preceding eve
Midsummer/Litha, on the Summer Solstice
Lughnasadh (Lammas), on August 1 and the preceding eve
Mabon, on the Autumn Equinox
Samhain (Halloween), on the eve of October 31

We are now on the cusp of the (Northern Hemisphere's) halfway station between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, known as Beltaine. Watch out, spirits are about! – the wheel shows that it is directly opposite Samhain (Halloween); that is, six months from that other witching night.

Tonight's mischief is celebrated in the Harz Mountains of Germany, as well as in Finland and the Scandinavian countries. It is called Valborgsmassoafton in Swedish, Vappu in Finnish, Walpurgisnacht in German. On the eve of May Day, the Devil and the company of hexen, or witches, were once believed to hold revels on high places, especially Mount Brocken in the Harz range. In 1990 women's groups reclaimed the site ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Reclaim the Commons, June 3 - 9

"Thousands of activists and organizers around the Western US will converge on San Francisco from June 3-9 to shut down the corporate takeover of basic life needs.

"While Savannah, Georgia will be the focus of G8 protests on East Coast, the West Coast G8 demonstrations will target the biotech industry's largest meeting of lobbyists and executives happening concurrently in San Francisco. However, this mobilization is much bigger than biotech.

"Organizers have put out a call to not only target the meetings, but to reclaim the city of San Francisco from the corporate oligarchs and return it to the people. They plan actions that will create free local food sources and community gathering spaces, as well as actions that will bring together groups working for global, environmental and racial justice.

"One focal point of the 'Reclaim the Commons' mobilization will be the shut down of the biotech industry meeting. The most widely discussed aspects of biotechnology relate to its incorporation into foods that humans consume and biological weapons. We live in a world where tomatoes can be manipulated to contain anti-freeze genes and every cell of a corn plant can be engineered to contain toxic pesticides. We live in a world where 'terminator technologies' can create plants incapable of producing fertile seeds, and where those plants are being shoved down the through of Developing Nations in order to make them more dependent on buying seeds.

"June 8, the opening day of the G8 meetings in Georgia, will be a day of mass action against the corporate empire. Pick your coast, but mobilize!!"
Source: Indymedia

*Ø* Blogmanac | Pro-family groups worried as gay divorce rates soar

"Social conservatives opposed to gay unions have called on homosexuals experiencing marital difficulties to stay together in a bid to stem alarming increases in the rate of gay family breakdown. Anti-liberal group Focus on the Family today released research which shows that gay divorce rates have soared since the ban on gay marriage ended.

"'While we think homosexuality is innately evil, we were impressed at the way the gay community achieved a divorce rate of 0%,' said Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. 'It certainly compared favourably with the straight community, where 1 in 4 marriages now end in divorce.' ..."
Source: The Chaser

*Ø* Blogmanac | Iraq WMDs being found after all?

In the interests of being 'fair and balanced', here's an article from the right-wing American Insight mag that claims that WMDs are indeed being discovered in Iraq. I thought it would be a parody article at first, but it's not:

"New evidence out of Iraq suggests that the U.S. effort to track down Saddam Hussein's missing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is having better success than is being reported. Key assertions by the intelligence community that were widely judged in the media and by critics of President George W. Bush as having been false are turning out to have been true after all. But this stunning news has received little attention from the major media, and the president's critics continue to insist that "no weapons" have been found ..."
Source, and I found it here at Sydney Indymedia (of all places) where freedom of speech still matters.

Hello, world.

Just an A. Jones in-joke for Australians who have been following the news this week.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 29 | Teotihuacan's big day

Solar alignment at Teotihuacan, City of the Gods
The city of Teotihuacan, Mexico, settled in the second century BCE, was ancient when the Aztecs found its ruins. They named it 'place of the creation of the gods'.

The entrance of a ritual cave there was aligned to a point on the western skyline where the sun set on August 12 and April 29. These days are separated by day counts of 260 and 105 (making 365 in all). The ancient Mesoamerican system had a 260-day ritual calendar and a 365-day standard calendar.?????
?
The same horizon position is the setting point of the Pleiades, the star cluster that makes its initial annual appearance on the first of two days each year when the noon sun passes directly overhead at the latitude of Teotihuacan.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Dublin on high alert for summit

The Observer

"Ireland is to mount the largest security operation since independence for next weekend's May Day European summit in Dublin.

"The centre of the Irish capital will be transformed into a virtual fortress as police and troops seek to protect delegates at the ceremony marking the accession of 10 new countries into the EU ...

"... civil liberties groups and radical organisations condemned the operation, claiming it would create a virtual state of emergency in the Republic next weekend. Irish politicians including the Lord Mayor of Dublin have called for foreign protesters to be prevented from entering the Republic."

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac | Post-WW2 division of Europe ends with EU expansion

By Adam Jasser

"WARSAW (Reuters) -- The division of Europe finally comes to an end this week when nations consigned to live under communist rule after World War Two fulfil their ambition to join the Western rich man's club, the European Union.

"From May 1, the EU will embrace not only former Warsaw Pact countries held in Moscow's grip for nearly half a century, but part of the old Soviet Union itself with the accession of the Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

"The 600-mile shift to the east will also include the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Together with Cyprus and Malta, the new members will push the EU population up by 75 million to 450 million.

"Across the continent, fireworks and street parties will greet the EU's biggest one-off expansion -- from 15 to 25 members.

"Despite the euphoria, the new members are under no illusions. Even with fast economic growth, they remain poor by EU standards with wealth levels at a third of the EU average and a combined economic output at about five percent of the bloc's.

"Supporters of enlargement see the new EU as testimony of a dream to bring peace and prosperity to a continent for centuries riven by war.

"'In a modern world where people tend to use the word 'historic' far too readily, this is a truly historic development,' Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said last week."

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac April 28 | Floralia: RudeFest

Festival of Floralia, or Floral Games, Roman Empire (Apr 28 - May 3)

In the Northern Hemisphere, Spring is well underway, the days are getting warmer, the flowers are blooming, and the birds and bees are active. The ancient Romans knew how to celebrate it.

The Floralia, or Florales Ludi, was a six-day festival for the goddess Flora, deity (originally Sabine) of flowers and youthful pleasures, whose cult was said to have been introduced by Numa.

Flora was also the goddess of Spring, especially associated with vines, olives, fruit trees and honey-bearing plants. A temple was built for her at the Circus Maxima between the Aventine and the Palatine hills, and a shrine at the Quirinal at which corn stalks were offered. When Augustus became Pontifex Maximus, he built a chapel to Vesta in his own house on the Palatine, and dedicated it on this day, which was made a public holiday.

It was a festival of sexual fun and liberty and marked by the consumption of oceans of grog. Beans and other seeds were planted, representing fecundity. Originally a movable feast controlled by the condition of the crops and flowers, it’s believed to have been instituted in 238 BCE under the command of an oracle in the Sibylline books, with the purpose of gaining from the goddess the protection of the blossoms. Games were instituted in honour of Flora at that time, but were soon discontinued before being restored in 173 BCE in the consulship of L Postumius Albinus and M Popilius Laenas as a six-day festival, after storms had destroyed crops and vines.

Day and night there were games, pantomimes, theatre and stripteases with people of all classes in their brightest clothes, all decked out in flowers – even their animals were garlanded and Rome must have looked particularly beautiful at this time. Goats and hares were let loose as they represented fertility. Gift-giving for the season included small vegetables as tokens of sex and fertility. Use your imagination ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 28, 1996 | Port Arthur whodunnit?

1996 At Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, the world’s worst ‘spree killer’ of all time, Martin Bryant, killed 35 innocent men, women and children, and wounded another 22.

Wendy Scurr was at the Broad Arrow Café that day and treated the wounded – she was almost shot herself; yet she raises many serious questions about the official version. Her name shows up in a lot of gun nut websites, but it's still an interesting angle. The question remains: how could an intellectually impaired, non-shooter have killed 35 people, wound another 22 and stop two cars with only 64 bullets?

"Martin Bryant, an intellectually impaired registered invalid with no training in the use of high powered assault weapons, could not under any circumstances have achieved or maintained the incredibly high and consistent killed-to-injured ratio and kill-rate which were bench marks of the Port Arthur massacre."
This site questions the whole official version and suggests a conspiracy

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Lest Ye Think Ye Have Religious Freedom Under The Current American Administration, Ye Have Another Think Coming!

[And you can say goodbye to separation of church and state! The following indicates just how deep in the trash heap BushCo has buried the Constitution and Bill of Rights. When someone believes they have the moral high ground, there's no limit to the evil they will commit to defend it. We're in a mess here, folks, if we don't break up this band of "moralist thugs!" -v]


BORN YESTERDAY...NOT! — Orwell Himself Couldn't Have Imagined This Bullshit!

From Shara:

The Bible college that leads to the White House
The campus is immaculate, everyone is clean-cut and cheerful. But just
what are they teaching at Patrick Henry College?
And why do so many students end up working for George Bush?
By Andrew Buncombe
21 April 2004

It is worth making clear from the outset that Patrick Henry College in rural Virginia is not your average American university. At Patrick Henry, the students -- about 75 per cent of whom have been taught at home rather than in schools -- are required to sign a statement of faith before they arrive, confirming (among other things) that they have a literal belief in the teachings of the Bible. At Patrick Henry, students must obey a curfew. They must wear their hair neatly and dress "modestly".

Students must also obey a rule stating that if they wish to hold hands with a member of the opposite sex, they must do so while walking: standing while holding hands is not permitted. And at Patrick Henry, students must sign an honour pledge that bans them from drinking alcohol unless under parental supervision.

Yet these things alone do not make the college special. There are, after all, a number of Christian establishments across the United States that enforce such a strict fundamentalist code for their students.

No, what makes Patrick Henry unique is the increasingly close -- critics say alarmingly close -- links this recently established, right-wing Christian college has with the Bush administration and the Republican establishment as a whole. This spring, of the almost 100 interns working in the White House, seven are from Patrick Henry. Another intern works for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, while another works for President George Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove. Yet another works for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. Over the past four years, 22 conservative members of Congress have employed one or more Patrick Henry interns. Janet Ashcroft, the wife of Bush's Bible-thumping Attorney General, is one of the college's trustees.

And this is no coincidence. Rather, it is the very point. Students at Patrick Henry are on a mission to change the world: indeed, to lead the world. When, after four years or so of study, they leave their neatly-kept campus with its close-mown lawns, they do so with a drive and commitment to reshape their new environments according to the fundamentalist, right-wing vision of their college.

[Emphasis mine. -v]

PLEASE read on!


* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Patrick Henry College

Board of Trustees (Must See!)

Statement of Biblical Worldview

"God has ordained three primary social institutions to order human affairs: the family, the church, and civil government. Each of these institutions honors God when it operates under the principles of His word within its God-given scope of authority:

* * *

Civil Government. God himself has ordained government and commands that everyone must submit to government; moreover, there is no authority except that which God has established. (Romans 13: 1-5) Consequently, he who rebels against lawful authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves. It is necessary to submit to government, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. We are to pray for all who hold public office, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (Proverbs 14: 34-35; I Timothy 2: 1-2)

Some governments are not legitimate; some authorities are not lawful. (Hosea 8:1-4) These are governments that do not recognize or that choose to ignore that human beings are created in God's image and therefore are entitled to the enjoyment of certain rights and responsibilities that inhere in their nature. Such societies and such governments are under God's judgment. (Jeremiah 18: 7-10) Nevertheless, there is a proper way to rectify this situation.

[The founding fathers specifically determined that religion would NOT interfere in government! Just WHOM shall determine the legitimacy or lawfulness of a government? From where I sit, our current government is neither legitimate nor lawful. -v]

* * *

Institutional Mission, Vision, and Distinctives

Adopted by the Board of Trustees September 28, 2002 [Emphasis mine. -v]

The Mission of Patrick Henry College is to train Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with timeless biblical values and fidelity to the spirit of the American founding. In order to accomplish this mission, the College provides academically excellent higher education with a biblical worldview using classical liberal arts core curriculum and apprenticeship methodology.


The Vision of Patrick Henry College is to aid in the transformation of American society by training Christian students to serve God and mankind with a passion for righteousness, justice and mercy, through careers of public service and cultural influence.

* * *

The Mission of the Department of Government is to promote practical application of biblical principles and the original intent of the founding documents of the American republic, while preparing students for lives of public service, advocacy and citizen leadership.


* Ø * Ø * Ø *

"Intelligence" Takes On New Meaning at PHC

Students studying in the newest program at Patrick Henry College do not usually wear trench coats and dark glasses. You will not see them cruising around campus in bullet-proof, rocket-equipped sports cars. And they do not drink martinis, shaken, stirred, or otherwise. But students enrolled in PHC's new strategic intelligence studies track are learning all about what it takes to join the nation's first line of defense—the men and women of the American intelligence community. [Emphasis mine. -v]


The Strategic Intelligence Program (SIP) at PHC is no simple "spy major." It is a serious, academically rigorous curriculum encompassing a range of intellectual and practical skills. Students in the program study intelligence-related fields including intelligence analysis, investigative techniques, open source data exploitation, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and information dissemination. Since its inception in the fall of 2003, the SIP track (one of three possible concentrations within the existing Government major) has attracted some of the best students at PHC, a school which already draws some of the finest young students in the country. And interest among prospective applicants seems high indeed. "We are already seeing a substantial pool of applicants to this program," said SIP Director and Government Department Chairman Robert Stacey. "High school students in the home school movement and in the Christian community tend to be patriotic young men and women of high moral character and clean backgrounds. These are just the sort of people we want to train and disperse out into the intelligence community."

[Yes, this is just what all mommies and daddies see for their darling little girls and boys as they raise them up with kisses and tears. Bye-bye, my little CIA agent! There goes my little killer of evildoers! I'm so proud! I'm so happy we had no art or music training to detract from marksmanship and infiltration strategy training. She's so brilliant with high-powered rifles. He's so good at fooling innocent dissidents! We're such good patriotic parents! -v]

The stated goal of SIP is to prepare graduates for meaningful careers in the intelligence community (Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, etc.), domestic counter-terrorism and law enforcement (Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigations, etc.), and diplomacy (Foreign Service, State Department, etc.). These graduates will eventually work their way into positions to positively influence and shape this increasingly important part of our culture. Since the widespread proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the tragedy of 9/11, the need for more and better information about our would-be enemies is greater than ever. "There are evil people in this world who would like nothing better than to see Americans killed and the American way of life destroyed," added Eliot Jardines, Assistant Director of SIP at Patrick Henry. "The preservation of our liberty requires constant vigilance. Who is going to do it? Who better than these young men and women of integrity and honor?" [Emphasis mine. -v]

Strategic Intelligence Program at Patrick Henry College

*Ø* Blogmanac April 26 | Hocktide (2004)

(Two weeks after Easter, English customs with a Viking background)

A note about the dating of items in Wilson?s Almanac

(Also known as Hoke-tide. In the 15th and 16th centuries, in London it was called Hob-tide.) In the English tradition, Hocktide is the Monday and Tuesday following the second Sunday after Easter (Low Sunday), though the Tuesday is considered the main day. ('Tide' is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'time, period or season', and is obsolescent, if not obsolete, in most senses except when referring to the oceans' rise and fall.)

Long before the Industrial Revolution when people became ensnared in the long working week that still prevails for the benefit of our idle masters, work was hard but feast days were plenty. Weekends, as yet uninvented, would never have been enough for our forebears. As one sees each day in the Almy, scarcely a week – scarcely three days – went by in medieval Europe without a holiday with feasting and frolicking. (There are still societies today clinging to such lifestyles in defiance of globalization's juggernaut, but they are labelled 'primitive'.)

Hocktide was for our Western ancestors such a day of high festivity and pranks. The best known of these was 'ransoming'.

On the Monday, men would go out and about and capture women, binding them with cords and holding them for small ransoms, which was usually given to church restoration funds or charity (though a kiss was often accepted). There was equality in these fun and games, however – on the Tuesday the women could take their revenge on the men in the same way. The meaning of the word is unknown, but the custom can be traced back to the 13th century. In 1450 a bishop of Worcester inhibited these 'Hoctyde' practices. It prevailed in all parts of England, but pretty much died out early in the 1700s.

You can't keep a good prank down, though, and although not nearly so widespread as before, ransoming is still played in some places at Hocktide, as these pictures show. One of the places to keep the tradition alive is Hungerford, where another custom is to grab any dignitaries attending the Hocktide feast and for a blacksmith to put horseshoes on their feet.

Ethnic cleansing: St Brice's Day Massacre
It may be that these games evolved to commemorate the dreadful massacre of thousands of Danes (Vikings) on St Brice's Day, November 13, 1002, the 1,000-year anniversary of which passed recently without war between England and Denmark ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Putting The Fun Back Into Fundamentalism


From TCM (The Common Man):

Tweak it a bit and apply it to your religion of choice!


TOP TEN SIGNS YOU'RE A CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST

(found on Evil Bible.com)

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" -- including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (4.55 billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a couple of generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs - though excluding those in all rival sects -- will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.


And if that doesn't get 'em, try this:

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." ~ Stephen Roberts.


An easy target I know, but I needed something to cheer me up on a dull Monday morning and this fits the bill nicely.

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac | Naked climbers cause trouble

"Two gay lovers took off most of their clothes, climbed up a tree in New York's Central Park and spent four hours engaging in sex acts and yelling abuse at police and firefighters.

"Police said officers talked the men out of the three storey high tree last night after the parks department had sent two cherry-pickers and firefighters had deployed an inflatable rescue mattress.

"The couple, described by officials as a 32-year-old transsexual with female breasts wearing a purple thong and a 17-year-old boy in white boxer shorts, were admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation ..."

Source

Thanx, Baz le Tuf.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 25 | Robin Hood

1324 An entry in the Jornal de la Chambre of King Edward II shows pence a day paid to one ‘Robyn Hod’ for service to the King. (Some sources say that the first appearance in a manuscript is in William Langland's Piers Plowman (1377).)

The son of William Fitz-Ooth, Robin Ooth, or Robin Hood, dissipated his inheritance and joined a band of outlaws. He is, of course, famous for robbing from the rich to give to the poor. He is said to have died on December 24, 1247 (the dates are obviously confused after all these centuries) at a nunnery in Yorkshire.

At Kirklees, Yorkshire, a gravestone once had the (probably unauthentic) inscription:

Hear undernead dis laith stean
Laiz Robert Earl of Huntington,
Nea arcir ver American actor hie sa geude
An piple kaud im Robin Heud.
Sic utlawz as hi, an iz men,
Wil England never sigh agen.
Obit 24 kal. Dekembris, 1247
 
The facts about the life of Robin Hood are hazy at best, and December 24 is only one conjectured date of the English outlaw’s death ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Where's My (Bleeping) Sex?


From Lisa:

[Clarification: In this case, we're not accusing the gummint of requiring censorship... but, rather inspiring it. –L.]


Where's My (Bleeping) Sex?
Who wants a DVD player that automatically deletes all the juicy bits of movies? One guess

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Friday, April 23, 2004


Because what the world really needs now is more uptight little companies from Utah that will help us all block out the random messy naked blood n' guts of the world.

Companies that will, without anyone asking them to, protect us from media evildoers and exposed flesh and scary exploding things and that part in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" wherein the universe is blessed, for the briefest of moments, with the joy of Kate Winslet's radiant nipples.

This is what is happening. This is the happy godlike agenda of Utah's ClearPlay, a twee and shrill little corporation that has taken it upon itself to sit around the cube farm all day and watch countless Hollywood flicks and zap out any and all icky violent suggestive material in, say, "Lost In Translation." For your protection. How kind.

ClearPlay has, thank the Lord Almighty, developed a method that automatically bleeps out and/or completely skips over words, scenes and entire sections of Hollywood films it has deemed offensive or inappropriate, and displays the rest in sanitized, defanged, nipple-free form, so you won't ever find yourself having to explain to your precious wide-eyed heavily Ritalined 8-year-old just exactly what part of Penelope Cruz Tom Cruise is sucking in that one part of "Vanilla Sky." I mean, praise Jesus.

ClearPlay is a content-filtering company. It relieves all twitchy God-fearing Americans of the horrible and brain-draining duty of actually taking a modicum of responsibility for what they see and hear and for what they allow their children to see and hear, and replaces it all with a type of hapless willful ignorance, mislabeled as "choice."

All you have to do is buy ClearPlay's cheapass scene-deleting DVD player from Wal-Mart (of course), set the level of filtering you want from 1 to 16 (1 being, presumably, "Sex is icky" and 16 being, I suppose, "Lobotomize me now"), pop in a ClearPlay-approved DVD from your local video store and, voilà! — your movie experience is pure and holy and now shows only happy bunnies and nummy butterflies and people kissing sweetly without tongue or moan or bulge. And, lo, the world is a better place.

What a fabulous idea. Dammit, if only more companies would get into the act of protecting us from the crap put out by other, more heartless companies.

And then if only someone would launch a company to protect us from the crap put out by the company that is ostensibly protecting us from crap put out by the first company. Why, you'd never have to think for yourself ever again. What a wonderful world.

I volunteer. I am hereby starting a new company called SpankThis that will not only de-ClearPlay all Mormon-sanitized DVDs but will also, in fact, actively enhance the scary icky sexy parts and will actually saturate them in hi-res surround-sound 3-D Technicolor and display them on infinite loop on a 40-foot mobile screen, which I will then drive very slowly through the parking lots of all Wal-Marts of America whilst blaring old Black Sabbath and new Rufus Wainwright. IPO forthcoming.

But why stop there? Hell, if only the U.S. government and maybe the puppets of the FCC and the sneering lizard men of the U.S. Senate would step up and crack down on corrupt American broadcasters.

If only they would enforce their snippy interpretation of God's will and ensure everyone on the goddamn planet knows that the F-word is officially the absolute scariest and worst possible utterance you can possibly scream out, next to maybe the C-word or the V-word or "masturbate," why, we'd be so much better off. Damn, if only that would happen! Oh wait.

Let us not get into overly defensive mode here. Let us not attempt to argue that all Hollywood swill is precious and perfect and wonderful and does not deserve great heaping gobs of critical scorn.

And I have to be honest: It's all too obvious that the endless barrage of sex and violence in American culture warps the living hell out of kids' perspectives, numbs them and desensitizes them and torques their burgeoning worldviews, replaces notions of humanity and calmness and divine individual sexuality with bloody ice picks and firebombs and severed limbs raining down like Skittles. Hey, it's an angry-ex-cop-takes-revenge-on-the-evil-syndicate-with-a-bazooka-for-killing-his-family world. We just live in it.

And while it is certainly no sunny picnic trying to raise a tolerable kid amidst modern America's nasty maelstrom of smut and violence, something is dangerously wrong when parents are willing to hand over their most basic, vital responsibilities — like educating their own spawn about how to process all the myriad torments and F-words of the world — to some sanctimonious company from Salt Lake City, a firm that has taken it upon itself to delete all the disturbing moments in "Ghostbusters." And "Best in Show." And "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." I mean, thank goodness.

Something is dangerously wrong when this sort of casual, screechy censorship becomes the norm. We begin to lose sight of the far, far more sinister forces now plying your innocent child and your born-again virgin Christian sister, of the considerably darker, danker forces that deign to tell you what you should and should not be offended by, who you can and cannot marry, who we should be allowed to bomb the living crap out of without apology or explanation or provocation. Forget the bombs and the blood and the gutted school system, honey — Howard Stern just said the N-word!

We forget, furthermore, that the roughly 10,000 far more lurid slogans and predatory marketing techniques and cheapass plastic landfill merchandise being hurled at your precious wee one during, say, a one-hour stroll through the florescent wasteland of Wal-Mart do much more karmic damage than 1,000 viewings of, say, "The Matrix Revolutions." This would seem obvious.

Is this all beside the point? Hardly. Because the bottom line is, the ClearPlay way is very much the BushCo way, which is very much the John Ashcroft way, which is very much the homophobic misogynistic Christian Right way, which is very much in keeping with the panicky paranoid anti-everything timbre of post-Nipplegate America.

That is to say, we have become a population that is increasingly willing to forgo its own rights and opinions and individual spiritual paths in favor of a sort of collective numbness, a general rejection of responsibility, this ridiculous, childish view that if we just let the Powers That Be cleanse the world of all the accused evildoers and drug dealers and F-words, we will be happy and pure and flowers will smile and priests will stop ogling online porn and the rivers will run strong and clear once again.

It is a polarized, absurdist view that blinks not at all as we send hundreds of disposable U.S. soldiers off to die for appalling and indefensible and very oily reasons, but the raunchy parts of "Seabiscuit" deserves immediate attention, if not scowling legislation. [All emphasis mine. –L.]

Which is why time is of the essence. My company-filtering company, SpankThis, will be launching very soon. Remember: I have only your best interests at heart. It is for your own good. Our motto: We emphasize the sticky menacing convoluted world, so you don't have to. Free nipple jewelry and copy of "Sex Tips for the Damned" with every stock option purchased. God bless America.

---

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Mark Morford's Notes & Errata column appears every Wednesday and Friday on SF Gate, unless it appears on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which it never does. He also writes the Morning Fix, a deeply skewed thrice-weekly e-mail column and newsletter. Subscribe at sfgate.com/newsletters.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Editorial and Cartoons: Bush's Doom


From Lisa:

Iraq Could Doom Bush
by Dick Morris
former adviser to President Clinton and (sadly?) current Faux News commentator
with related cartoons by some of the world's finest editorial cartoonists

Read the editorial with a jaundiced eye... it SO sounds like it was written by a Repug! Take special note of the comment on page 2:

"To make sure he remains out of power, we must keep a large garrison, safely ensconced at a secure base, in Iraq once we hand over power to the Iraqi Governing Council."

Swell... another overseas military base. Are they sure this was written by a Clintonista?!


NOTE: If you click "GO TO PAGE TWO" after the text of the editorial, you'll miss the entire first page of toons. You'll have another opportunity to move on after you've perused the toons. The toons are the best part of the deal anyhow!

*Ø* Blogmanac | Will You Stand With Dennis?


A MESSAGE FROM DENNIS KUCINICH
RECORDED THE EVENING OF APRIL 20, 2004





Listen to the audio postcard from Dennis
Read the transcript of the message from Dennis


Contribute by calling 866-413-3664 or online or by sending your check to the address shown at the bottom of the kucinich.us page.

You can also contribute by purchasing original campaign items in the Official Campaign Store.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 23 | Shakespeare and Cervantes

England's and Spain's great writers share their date of death (sort of)

1616 (Julian calendar) The death of William Shakespeare (born, also, on this day in 1564), English playwright and actor. A curious will bequeathed his "2nd best bed with the furniture" to his wife, Anne Hathaway.

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and so did Spain's popular author of Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes (b. 1547). However, it must be remembered, before one gets too cosmic about the coincidence, that Spain had changed in 1582 to the Gregorian calendar, which England did not adopt till 1752. Consequently, in 1616 the 23rd day of April in Spain corresponded with April 13 in England.

April 23 is not the brightest day for poetry. Not only did Shakespeare and Cervantes shuffle off this mortal coil, but also poets William Wordsworth (1850) and Rupert Brooke (1915).

Although the records of Cervantes indicate he wrote 20 to 30 plays, only two survive. He worked as a tax collector and as a requisitioner of supplies for the navy, but was jailed for … shall we say … irregularities in his bookkeeping.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | US: Panel recommends ban on computer voting system

By Elise Ackerman, April 22

"SACRAMENTO -- An advisory panel unanimously recommended this morning that Secretary of State Kevin Shelley ban use of a computerized voting system in four California counties.

The panel also called on state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to open a criminal investigation into the conduct of Diebold Election Systems, the Ohio-based firm that manufactured the touch-screen system."

Continue here

Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | My pleasure

You're welcome - Fáilte romhat - De rien!

Wishing you many more years of happy webbing, Pip. I hope (in fact, I'm sure) that readers will bear with any glitches during the changeover. After all, almaniacs and blogmaniacs are the crème de la crème of the net! :)

*Ø* Blogmanac | Hostess with the mostest

Thanks to Nora, team member in the Blogmanac, Wilson's Almanac is shifting to a new Internet host. Nora has very generously donated hosting, "at great cost to the management", and I am more than grateful for her kindness. It's reduced the outstanding overdue account with our ISP by about one third.

Transferring such a big site from one host to another is quite a job, even for the moderately intelligent. So for me, it's like pushing string uphill. Dear reader, if you should happen to find missing images or dead links anywhere at the Almanac, I humbly ask you to report them, either here or at Corrigenda (if this damn link works).

Merci buckets. And merci Nora.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 22, 1774 | The Wandering Jew: A curious medieval legend

1774 The Wandering Jew appeared in Brussels.

In the middle ages it was believed that there was a Jewish man still alive who had been alive at the time of Jesus Christ; the belief persisted as late as 1868 which is perhaps the last notice we have of 'the Wandering Jew'. The tale has obviously anti-Semitic origins and the central character of the enduring legend may be seen as a sort of medieval Ancient Mariner or Flying Dutchman.

Cartaphilus, who was about thirty years old then, has remained the same age ever since (despite Gustave Dore's representation of him as an old man). Having insulted Jesus Christ on the last day of the latter's life, he is condemned to wander the earth until Judgement Day.

Cartaphilus showed up numerous times, including Hamburg in 1542 (or 1547); Spain in 1575; the Netherlands in the same year; Vienna (1599); Lubeck (1601); Prague (1602); Lubeck (1603); Bavaria (1604); France (1604); Ypres (1623); Brussels (1640); Leipsic (1642); Paris (1644); Stamford (1658); Astrakhan (1672); Frankenstein (1676); Munich (1721); Altbach (1766); and Brussels in 1774 where he told his story to the bourgeois, but said that he had changed his name to Isaac Laquedem. By the 1800s, sightings of the Wandering Jew were generally attributed to impostors and the mentally ill.

He appeared again at Newcastle, England, in 1790. The last appearance mentioned appears to have been in America in the year 1868, when he was reported to have visited a Mormon named O'Grady. Other names that have been used for Cartaphilus include Ahasuerus (or Ahasverus), Buttadaeus and Juan Espera en Dios.

Biblical origins
The ancient story went that Jesus, as he was being dragged about in the court of Pilate just before his crucifixion, was struck on the back by one of Pilate's porters, Cartaphilus. "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker! Why do you loiter?", Cartaphilus mocked Christ. Jesus looked at him and said "I am going, and you will wait till I return". Most versions of the tale recount that the Wandering Jew soon repented of his sins and was actually baptised in the Catholic Church, by Ananias (who also baptised the Apostle Paul), and was renamed Joseph. He grows old like the rest of us until reaching 100 years of age, at which point he sheds his skin and rejuvenates to the age of thirty.

In Matthew 16:28, Jesus promised a disciple (traditionally John): "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom".

A later but more influential, parallel to the story comes from John 21:20ff, from which a legend arose in the Church that St John would not die before the second coming of Jesus; yet another legend declares that the attendant Malchus, whose ear Saint Peter cut off in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:10), was condemned to wander till the Second Coming of Christ.

The myths somehow merged with several other old tales, for example the Biblical story of Cain who killed his brother Abel and was condemned by God to walk the earth forever, and the Qu'ran's legend of Samari the Samaritan who was cursed by Moses to wander forever because he helped make the idol of the golden calf.

The legend of the Wandering Jew seems to first appear in the Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover in the year 1228. This tells of an Armenian archbishop who was then visiting England, who was asked by the monks of St Albans about St Joseph of Arimathea (feast day March 17), the uncle of Jesus (who legend says took Jesus to the British Isles while Jesus was a youth, and whose tomb Jesus had been laid in after the crucifixion) and who was said to be still alive ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

Welcome today to our 25,000th visitor, whoever you be. :)

*Ø* Blogmanac April 21 | Romulus, Remus and Rome's origins


Palilia (or Parilia) festivals, ancient Rome
These are festivals celebrated on April 21 honouring Pales, the Roman god (later a goddess) of shepherds and their flocks. They're held on the anniversary of the day on which Romulus, the boy suckled (with his brother Remus) by a she-wolf, drew the first furrow at the foot of the hill, thus laying the foundations of Rome.

Sheepfolds were decorated with green branches on this day. Fires were kindled and animals driven through the smoke; milk and cakes were offered to the deity today.However, the Palilia, or Parilia, were held long before the foundation of Rome. They celebrated the beginning of Spring pasture, and were held to purify cattle, the herds and the herdsmen. Only later were they used to commemorate Romulus and Remus’s foundation of Rome. Then it became the Natalis urbis Romae in the calendars of Polemius Silvius and Philocalus.

Rome founded by a woman?
A fragment of writing rediscovered and embraced by growing numbers of Italians today, challenges the popular legend that Romulus was Rome's founder ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today, including a lot about Romulus and the foundation of Rome, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Rock Against Bush!


From our friend Eric (EP-Rants, TooManyReasons, LouieLouie):

Here's a message from my friend Kimmy about a new "Rock Against Bush" CD+DVD package. I love the idea that for less than $10, you can get a rockin' CD and a DVD that includes two documentaries, "Uncovered" and "Unprecedented" plus some MoveOn.org commercials.

If you do want to buy it, I encourage you to buy it now, the very first week, just to drive up those all-important music industry statistics.

- EP

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From: "DIY Politics"
To: "E.P."
Subject: Rock Against Bush Out tomorrow!
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:29:48 -0700

Rock Against Bush Vol 1 is being released in record stores nationwide this week and will send a strong message to the White House that even the 'punk rock' community is uniting to Take Back America! Let's get this CD to the number one spot so we can draw major attention to it. We can finally use the charts for something!!

Send a clear message to the White House!

The CD features 26 of the most influential rock bands in America right now uniting mainstream and underground rock to speak out against the Bush Administration. Bands like Ministry, NOFX, Social Distortion, Descendents, and many more. This compilation includes 15 unreleased songs for the true music fan's enjoyment! This CD aims to inspire and enrage the young punkvoter.com audience and comes packaged with a bonus DVD that includes tons of factual information and several music videos. It includes trailers, music videos and political documentary trailers and even a piece from Grammy-nominated comedian, David Cross.

Fat Wreck Chords also included MoveOn.org-promoted documentaries "Uncovered" and "Unprecedented", and even included the five winning commercials from MoveOn.org’s Bush in 30 Seconds Campaign.

This compilation is supported by Punkvoter.com, Fat Mike from NOFX's voter education organization, Punkvoter.com is made up of over 200 of the hottest punk bands in the country including, Green Day, Offspring, Less Than Jake, Bad Religion, and Pennywise. Punkvoter is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing grassroots coalitions of punk bands, punk labels, and most importantly, punk fans uniting in opposition to the policies of the Bush Administration. For more information visit www.punkvoter.com

With your help Rock Against Bush will climb up the billboard charts and reiterate our message in another part of American culture that America is taking action in every part of our society!

Please buy this CD/DVD set for that special music fan in your life this week!

It's at record stores everywhere!

Online it sells for $6.00 at Fat Wreck Chords

Or 9.98 at amazon.com

For more info on Rock Against Bush Vol. I, and to hear samples view this e-card

Help Rock Against Bush!

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac | Well, At Least BushCo Is Good At Something ....


BATTLE LINES BEIN' DRAWN -- War and Peace

From our friend Joe's blog, American Leftist:

In Chomsky's blog:

Typically, military occupations are quite successful, even by the most horrendous conquerors. Take, say, Hitler's occupation of Western Europe and Russia's postwar occupation of Eastern Europe. In both cases, the countries were run by collaborators, security forces and civilian, with the troops of the conqueror in the background. There was courageous partisan resistance under Hitler, but without extensive foreign support, it would have been wiped out. In Eastern Europe, the US tried to support resistance (inside Russia as well) until the early 1950s, and of course Russia was in confrontation with the world dominant superpower. There are many other examples.


Consider, in contrast, the invasion of Iraq. It eliminated two monstrous regimes, one of which we are allowed to talk about, the other not. The first was the rule of the tyrant. The second was the US-UK imposed sanctions regime, which killed 100s of thousands of people, devastated the society, strengthened the tyrant, and compelled the population to rely on him survival -- probably saving him from the fate of other gangsters supported by the current incumbents in Washington, all overthrown from within; that was a plausible surmise before the war, and is even more so in the light of postwar discoveries about the fragility of Saddam's rule. The ending of both regimes was certainly welcome to the population. The US had enormous resources to reconstruct the ruins. Resistance had virtually no outside support, and in fact developed within largely in response to violence and brutality of the invaders. It took real talent to fail.

SOURCE

See, also: The PDB

*Ø* Blogmanac April 19 | Cerealia ends with flaming fox tails

Cerealia, for goddess Ceres, ancient Rome (Apr 12 - 19), final day
Ceres, in Roman Mythology, equivalent to the Greek Demeter, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, mother of Proserpina, and patron of Sicily. Ceres is the goddess of growing plants (particularly grain) and of motherly love. Personified and celebrated by women in secret rituals at the festival of Ambarvalia, held during May. There was a temple to Ceres on the Aventine Hill. She was depicted in art with a sceptre, a basket of flowers and fruit, and a garland made of wheat ears. The Romans they had a common expression, 'fit for Ceres', which meant splendid. The asteroid 1 Ceres is named after this goddess.

It was a festival celebrated at Rome in honour of the goddess whose wanderings in search of her lost daughter Proserpine (Persephone) were represented by women clothed in white, running about with lighted torches. Games were celebrated in the Circus Maximus, the spectators of which appeared in white; but on any occasion of public mourning the games and festivals were not celebrated at all, as the matrons could not appear at them except in white.

On this, the last day of the week-long festival, people visited friends, and foxes with firebrands tied to their tails were let loose.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Vanunu released to life of 'internal exile'

Independent.co.uk:

"Mordechai Vanunu, the man who first revealed that Israel had nuclear weapons, is 'demoralised, worried and angry,' as he finally prepares for the end of his 18-year prison sentence this week.

"In one of the more grudging and unusual prison releases of recent times, Mr Vanunu, 49, is due to walk out of jail on Wednesday at the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon and into a series of heavily confining restrictions, amounting to a form of internal exile.

"Mr Vanunu, a former technician at the Dimona nuclear plant, spent almost 12 years of his sentence in solitary confinement after he was lured to Rome in 1986 and then drugged and kidnapped by Mossad agents after talking to The Sunday Times in London about Israel's clandestine nuclear weapons programme ...

"Adopting a doctrine of 'nuclear ambiguity' -- which campaigners say was fatally undermined by Mr Vanunu's revelations -- Israel has never officially admitted to having nuclear weapons. But the CIA has estimated that it has between 200 and 400 of them."

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac April 18, 1775 | The Ride of Paul Revere, and friends

1775 American Revolutionary War: Paul Revere, accompanied by William Dawes and Samuel Prescott (relatively forgotten by history because the famous poem, Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, glorified the Bostonian as the lone rider) rode from Charleston to Lexington to warn American militiamen of the advancing British forces, and of the impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock and seizure of weapons.

Dawes and Revere took separate routes to get to Lexington so the information of the British would arrive safely. Dawes avoided a group of British guards by jumping over a wall. He reached Lexington at about 12:30 am on April 19. This was about half an hour after Paul Revere arrived. At 1:00 am they rode on together to go to Concord, but they had another messenger with them, Samuel Prescott. Later on they were caught by British guards, but Dawes and Prescott escaped. While escaping, Dawes was thrown from his horse, which ran off; Dawes had to walk back to Lexington. Prescott made it to Concord.

Paul Revere (January 1, 1735 - May 10, 1818) was an American engraver, his best known work probably being of the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. He was also present at the Boston Tea Party.

Paul Revere's expense account for his famous ride from Boston to New York - he spent $US190 in eleven days - fetched more than $US10,000 at auction in 1978.


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Timely Tax Tip — and Verizon's Third Strike!


From Lisa:

C'MON PEOPLE NOW, SMILE ON YOUR BROTHER! — Cultural Creativity, Pop Culture, Art Culture, Lifestyle, Including The Cultural Creatives, The Creative Class, The Hippies and Simple Living*


[Why is this "cultural creativity" and not an "action to take to make a difference"? Because, IMNSHO, the notion of reducing one's income below the taxable threshhold is a lifestyle commitment! –L.]


Liberty Action of the Week: War Tax resistance
by Mary Lou Seymour


Tax Time again. April 15, the annual culmination of the government's War on Taxpayers.

Many of us subscribe to the hardcore libertarian position that "taxation is theft" and thus a violation of the Non-Aggression principle and anathema to a free society. This approach circumvents all the debate about what's a "fair tax" and what services a state "should" fund; individuals would pay for those services they wanted, at the level they wanted, and the "market would rule" (ie, those services that weren't "bought" would cease to exist).

I've subscribed to that position for many years, since the "light went on" in my mind and I finally figured out that cutting taxes back to a "bare minimum," or making taxes "fairer" in some fashion simply doesn't work, since our rulers are very clever in substituting one tax for another (cut property taxes, raise sales taxes; eliminate income taxes, raise property taxes) and even when we think we've got a "good deal" and are getting to keep more of our money, they are simply picking our other pocket; what may seem "fair" to one person might mean a flat sales tax, while "fair" to someone else might mean "tax only the rich."

But this year, with the Occupation of Iraq beginning to unravel and the conquered (or "freed") country exloding in resistance, it seems appropriate to concentrate our regular Tax Day protests on one front: War Tax Resistance.

War tax resistance is refusing to pay some or all of those federal taxes that contribute to military spending. Because there is no tax that goes only to the military, war taxes generally mean individual federal income taxes and as well as some excise taxes (e.g., the 3% federal excise tax on telephone service). Though a case can be made to include Social Security, state, and local taxes, these are generally not considered "war taxes."

Resisting war taxes in theory is really very simple — don't pay all the tax due on your annual Federal income tax form, or don't pay the Federal excise tax on telephone bills, or both.

Of course, all of these methods of resistance are frowned upon by the state. The War Resisters League notes that the probability of collection or prosecution varies among the methods, but points out that "Serious consideration must be given before embarking on these types of resistance" and notes that earning less than taxable income and publicizing WHY you have choosen to keep your income low is also a viable war tax resistance effort, which is perfectly legal (even in America, you can't be jailed for not making much money).

Dave Gross writes a thoughful review of his year of legal tax resistance in The Picket Line. A year ago, on March 19th, 2003, the invasion of Iraq began and Dave quit his job to start an experiment in tax resistance. "When I started on this experiment, my goal was to wash my hands of any financial support for the government. I wanted to do this by reducing my federal income tax burden to zero, legally, by lowering my income below the tax threshold and by taking legitimate deductions and credits."

Resisting the federal exise tax (on your phone bill) is illegal, but probably has less chance of dangerous consequences. Hang up on War, a national campaign for anti-war phone tax resistance, calls on individuals to refuse to pay their federal phone tax, an act of civil disobedience which sends a message to Washington that says "Not With Our Money." The Hang up on War web site offers printable flyers, logos for your web site, and other materials.

To refuse the federal excise tax, simply subtract that amount from your monthly telephone bill and include a note of explanation to the phone company each time you pay the bill. The phone company is required (by FCC regulations) credit your bill and report this amount to the IRS, but not cut off your telephone service. The phone company should credit your account and report the unpaid tax on a quarterly basis to the IRS.

Hang up on War notes that some companies (notably Verizon in some regions of the country) have been especially uncooperative in crediting bills for the unpaid phone tax. [Emphasis mine... strike three! –L.] However, other companies, such as AT&T and Working Assets Long Distance, have been more cooperative. AT&T has a form that resisters can fill out, authorizing the company to withhold billing of the federal tax for "war tax" reasons, while noting that this nonpayment will be reported to the IRS.

The War Resisters League, which has been promoting war tax resistance since the Vietnam War, has a number of flyers and other materials; they also have a letter "In Support of Those Refusing to Pay for War," you can distribute in your community or sign online, stating "we, the undersigned individuals, believing that war tax refusal under the present circumstances is fully justified on moral and ethical grounds, publicly declare our encouragement of, and willingness to lend support to, those persons of conscience who choose to take this step."

For Tax Day outreach efforts, the Libertarian Party traditionally leaflets last minute filers at post offices with their famous million dollar bill Tax Day handout. (Front side: A faux $1,000,000 Federal Reserve note. The other side explains that the federal government spends $1 million every five seconds -- and that only the LP is trying to change that). This is designed to appeal simply to the widespread belief that taxes are too high, without going into a debate on which tax is "fair" and which taxes are "necessary," with the premise that once the person is "hooked" and contacts the LP, they can then be educated about the different varieties of "tax reform and/or elimination." The California LP has Tax Day material available, including a printable "million dollar bill" Other protest activities can include burning 1040 forms, protesters colorfully dressed in Revolutionary War garb or clad only in a barrel with a sign "the taxman took it all."

Our goal in liberty activism outreach is to change our culture to one which values freedom and responsibility, and operates under the Non-Aggression principle. Tax Day is the perfect opportunity to focus attention on the increasing power of the state as epitomized by the increasing power of the taxman, and, you have a receptive audience, comprised of "Everyman."

For Tax Day 2004, let's add War Tax Resistance to our "arsenal" for Tax Day protests.

Let's not let April 15 pass without firing back a quick salvo in the War on Taxpayers to demonstrate that "our side" hasn't surrendered, and, let's consider one of the War Tax Resistance methods as an ongoing protest of the Occupation of Iraq and the increasing imperialism of our "defense policy."

Til next week

For freedom

Mary Lou

````````````````
* Borrowed, again, from A-Changin' Times (ACT)

*Ø* Blogmanac | Israel murders Hamas leader Rantissi

The Guardian:

"The Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was killed today in an Israeli missile attack on his car, hospital officials said. Rantissi's son Mohammed and a bodyguard were also killed in the attack, they added.

"The killing comes less than a month after Israel assassinated Hamas's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in an air strike. Rantissi had been one of Israel's prime targets in its campaign against the militant Palestinian group ...

"The killing occurred against the backdrop of President Bush's endorsement of a plan by Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza but retain permanent control of some parts of the West Bank. The plan has enraged Palestinians."

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac | UK: Who will speak out?

US troops have carried out a massacre in Falluja, but MPs are silent

Ronan Bennett, April 17, The Guardian

"What does it take to get a New Labour politician to speak out on Iraq? I'm not talking about the likes of Blair, Hoon and Straw -- key players so deeply implicated in the cruel tragedy of conquest and occupation that they have no option but to stay the course, even as it spirals into slaughter and chaos. But there are ministers and backbenchers with a history of commitment to human rights. What does it take to shock them out of their baffling silence?

"Not the 600 or 700 Iraqis killed over the last fortnight in Falluja, it seems. Perhaps they believe, like the prime minister, that those attacking coalition troops are Saddam loyalists, al-Qaida fighters or religious fanatics, and deserve everything they get. Perhaps they have been reassured by General John Abizaid, head of the US Army's central command, who spoke of the coalition's 'judicious use of force'. Maybe they accept the reassurance of the commander of the US marines besieging the city that his men are 'trained to be precise in their firepower', and that '95% of those killed were legitimate targets'.

"Let's accept for the moment that the commander is right and accept that the AC-130 gunships and F16 fighter-bombers unleashed against the people of Falluja are precise, that the 500lb bombs falling on the city come under the definition of judicious. Let's look at just a handful of the 5% of civilian casualties the Americans concede they have inflicted.

"These include the mother of six-year-old Haider Abdel-Wahab, shot and killed while hanging out laundry; his father, shot in the head; Haider himself, and his brothers, crushed but dug out alive after a US missile struck their house. They include children who died of head wounds. They include an old woman with a bullet wound -- still clutching a white flag when aid workers found her. They include an elderly man lying face down at the gate to his house -- while inside terrified girls screamed 'Baba! Baba!' They include ambulance crews fired on by US troops ... "

Continue here

*Ø* Blogmanac | 75,000-year-old jewellery

From the BBC: "The oldest pieces of jewellery made by modern humans have emerged in Africa.

"Shell beads found in Blombos Cave on the southern tip of the continent are 75,000 years old, scientists say.

"The pea-sized items all have similar holes which would have allowed them to be strung together into a necklace or bracelet, the researchers believe.

"Christopher Henshilwood and his team have told Science magazine the find is probably one of the first examples of abstract thought seen in our ancestors.

"'The beads carry a symbolic message. Symbolism is the basis for all that comes afterwards including cave art, personal ornaments and other sophisticated behaviours,' Professor Henshilwood, of the University of Bergen, Norway, told BBC News Online."

Continue

*Ø* Blogmanac April 17, 1854| Happy birthday, Benjamin Tucker

1854 Birth of Benjamin Tucker (d. 1939), American publisher, journalist, propagandist, theorist, leading proponent of individualist anarchism in the 19th century, born at South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA. Tucker translated into English Proudhon’s classic work What is Property?

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker's contribution to American anarchism was as much through his publishing as his own writing. In editing and publishing the anarchist periodical, Liberty, Tucker both filtered and integrated the theories of such European thinkers as Herbert Spencer and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon with the thinking of American individualist activists, Lysander Spooner, Ezra Heywood, Stephen Pearl Andrews, William Greene and Josiah Warren, as well as the uniquely American free thought and free love movements in order to produce a rigorous system of philosophical or individualist anarchism.

Tucker shared with the advocates of free love and free thought a disdain for prohibitions on non-invasive behavior and religiously-based legislation, but he saw the poor condition of American workers as a result of four state-maintained monopolies: the money monopoly, the land monopoly, tariffs, and patents.

For 27 years his journal Liberty ('The Mother, not the Daughter of Order') served as a voice of individualist anarchism, opposed to the major anarchist communist and anarchist syndicalist wings of the movement. Liberty published such works as George Bernard Shaw's first original article to appear in the United States, the first American translated excerpts of Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Daily Bleed says that Liberty, until recently was the longest running anarchist journal in American history (the Detroit publication ‘The Fifth Estate’ is now past its 28th year). Tucker converted to anarchism Jo Labadie, whose personal papers formed the basis of the famed Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Donald Trump to Bush: "You're Fired!"


Dear Friends of TrueMajorityACTION:

Check out www.trumpfiresbush.com and see how "The Donald" handles his new apprentice.

This was made by one of our members as a way for people to let their friends know about TrueMajorityACTION and our work to fire George Bush.

Check it out. If you like it too, please send this message and/or the url to your friends. It's a great way to spread the word and help build the power of our organization.

Thanks,

Ben Cohen
President, TrueMajorityACTION
Co-founder, Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream*




* I am writing this email on my own and not on behalf of Ben & Jerry's, which is not associated with the TrueMajority campaign.


TrueMajorityACTION PAC
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Paid for by TrueMajorityACTION PAC and not authorized by any candidate nor candidate's committee.

*Ø* Blogmanac | There was a new consciousness . . . .


C'MON PEOPLE NOW, SMILE ON YOUR BROTHER! -- Cultural Creativity, Pop Culture, Art Culture, Lifestyle, Including
The Cultural Creatives, The Creative Class, The Hippies and Simple Living*

Knowing my penchant for sixties nostalgia, Pip referred me to a website from the University of Virginia where they teach a course on The Psychedelic '60s. Little did he know that what would catch my eye would be the section on 19th Century Precursors! LOL! I was reminded of our strong heritage of thinking Americans who showed us how great we could be . . . how we can transcend the demands of gold rushes and political rhetoric and see through the lies into our hearts and into the truth of life on this planet. We knew, once upon a time, what was right. We learned the lessons of discrimination and liberty and civil rights and how to treat a planet a long time ago! Our leaders today haven't. They're ignoring those lessons and replacing those qualities with something else. Something totally at odds with what Americans want and what Americans have fought for. They have us now fighting only for their greed and tossing us nothing but crumbs. Soon there will be none of those. Has no one stopped to notice?

We're having our very selves stolen from us! Our poetry readings are being canceled for fear of an anti-war sentiment being expressed. Our radio channels are being overtaken by right-wing Christian owners who approve only certain artists and songs for fear a traditional American protest song might be heard. Our textbooks are being revised leaving out the truth for fear we won't look like superheroes. For fear, for fear, for fear! What are they afraid of? What are WE afraid of? And WHY? Isn't our government made up of "civil servants" who work for US? Have we forgotten that America is a democracy that is of the people, by the people and for the people? What has become of us? Perhaps the following history will remind us of who we are as we approach Earth Day 2004 and, goddess help us, Election 2004:


Nature Ralph Waldo Emerson
"THERE WAS A new consciousness." That is how Emerson, writing in 1880, summed up the cultural revolution that defined the most advanced thought and art in the United States in the decades before the Civil War. To many at the
time, Emerson's first book, Nature, was the bible of the movement. It begins by inviting the new generation to leave the past behind, to "enjoy an original relation to the universe." It ends by exhorting the reader to "build your own world." These "new views"--Emerson's preferred term for what others would soon call Transcendentalism--never became a mass cultural or media phenomenon. Most Americans were more interested in the gold in California than the wealth that Emerson said was to be found within, and more interested in building railroads and factories than in creating the newer world he announced as imminent. But as a prophet or popular philosopher Emerson inspired thousands in his time and helped articulate for all time the idea that America is less a place than a process--a becoming new. [Emphasis added. -v]


An Oration Delivered Before the Phi Beta Kappa Society Ralph Waldo Emerson
WHEN EMERSON RESIGNED from the ministry to become a prophet of consciousness, he told a friend that his own
"particular parish" was "young people inquiring their way in the world." Speaking on behalf of the generation for whom Emerson's was the voice that found them in the wilderness, Theodore Parker wrote about how his words glowed in the American heavens, "drawing the eyes of ingenuous young people to look up to that great new star, a beauty and a mystery, as it led them along new paths and towards new hopes." Emerson's favorite rhetorical occasion was the college oration. In 1837 he gave "The American Scholar" address at Harvard. Telling the students in his audience that colleges exist "to set the hearts of youth on flame," he called for "the helpful giant to destroy the old or build the new." To the "young men crowding to the barriers for the career," he spoke of "the disgust which the principles on which business is managed inspire," and called each one of them instead to "plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide." Oliver Wendell Holmes called this speech "America's declaration of cultural independence." [Emphasis added. -v]


Walden; Or, Life in the Woods Henry David Thoreau
SOON AFTER THOREAU graduated from Harvard in 1837, he tuned in to Emerson's voice--and in the mid-1840s became America's most famous "drop out." When he moved to Walden Pond as a protest against conventional society and as the first citizen of what he calls "the only true America," he disappointed the parents who had scraped and saved to send him to college. When he transformed his two years in the woods into Walden, however, he gave American culture one of its most resonant symbolic gestures. The land he built his cabin on belonged to Emerson, though in his own version of the sixties dictum that you can't trust anyone over thirty Thoreau vehemently denied all debts: "I have lived some thirty years on this planet," he wrote in Walden, "and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors. They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me anything to the purpose."


Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman
WHITMAN ACKNOWLEDGED THE debt this way: "I was simmering, simmering, and Emerson brought me to a boil." Thoreau wrote Walden, he said, to "wake his neighbors up" by "crowing as lustily as chanticleer in the morning." In Leaves of Grass, Whitman "sounds my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world." An exhilarating combination of mysticism and sexuality, his poetry is a newer testament, a celebration of the kingdom of consciousness that can be found in the soul, in the body, in the "kosmos," and in all the forms of spirit and matter. Whitman urged his listeners to get outside and become "undisguised and naked:" "Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!" Few in his time even recognized his work as poetry, and on several occasions he was prosecuted for obscenity. This first edition of Leaves of Grass, which Whitman published himself, had almost no sale at all. Between 1855 and his death in 1892, Whitman kept adding poems to new editions of Leaves of Grass, and by the end of his life had acquired a few disciples. But it wasn't until the twentieth century that the literary critical establishment recognized him as one of the great American poets. To such anti-establishment figures as Allen Ginsberg (who 100 years after Leaves of Grass first appeared used the lines about "unscrewing the locks" as the epigraph to Howl) he was even greater as the prophet of cultural revolution.


Aesthetic Papers Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
AS IN THE SIXTIES, the "new consciousness" in America in Emerson's time made itself manifest across the whole range of cultural expression, from social life and religion to art and politics. This volume, for example, contains the first publication of Hawthorne's "Main Street," but it is now best-known for an essay called "Resistance to Civil Government, by H.D. Thoreau, Esq." In our time the essay is better-known as "Civil Disobedience." In this work Thoreau describes how he went to jail rather than pay taxes to support the Mexican War and the slave system that he felt was the real reason America was fighting in Mexico. Neither the essay nor Thoreau's act of protest attracted much attention among his contemporaries, but it later inspired Mahatma Gandhi, who read it while in jail in South Africa, and through him Martin Luther King. Thoreau's example was also a major inspiration to the anti-war movement of the sixties. "Break the law," Thoreau writes, "Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine." Interested in many forms of radical change, from education to utopian communities, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody herself was an important figure in the cultural revolution of the 1840s and 1850s. Henry James caricatures her as Miss Birdseye in The Bostonians.


Woman in the Nineteenth Century Margaret Fuller
THE WOMAN'S MOVEMENT in America has its origins in this period too. Genealogically its central branch--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and so on--grew out of the Abolitionist Movement, and addressed its efforts to specific political reforms like suffrage. Margaret Fuller was never in that camp. But her Woman in the Nineteenth Century was the first American book devoted to the question of woman's place and rights. It was the final product of Fuller's own participation in the unorganized Transcendentalist movement. Starting from the idea that the divine spirit is in all consciousness, Fuller argues for complete equality between the sexes: "I have believed and intimated that this hope would receive an ampler fruition than ever before in our own land. And it will do so if this land carry out the principles from which sprang our national life. I believe that at present women are the best helpers of one another. Let them think; let them act; till they know what they need."


To paraphrase Ms Fuller in today's terms regarding the craziness we see around us: war on innocent Iraqi people after they've been "liberated" from their tyrannical leader, discrimination against gays and lesbians, denying them the civil rights afforded other human beings under our constitution, and American citizens losing our rights of privacy and liberty for which our own forefathers fought and for which our troops are purportedly fighting today:

"Right now THINKERS are the best helpers of one another.
Let them think; let them act; till they know what they need."

SOURCE

``````````
* This is a section heading at my own blog that addresses cultural issues, among other things.

*Ø* Blogmanac | The Last Mohican?

A Salute to Gary Trudeau at TrueDemocracy.us

[In a political climate where outspoken cartoonists are dropping out of the nation's mega-corporation controlled newspapers like flies, one man has remained. Long live one favorite syndicate king, Gary Trudeau, and his beloved "court" of characters! -v]


Politics is a game of power, a game with serious repercussions and heavy consequences: war, taxes, laws, and more. Points are argued with intensity and loyalties run deep.

It’s a heavy sport to watch, bruising in its intensity. The best medicine for too much heaviness is a good dose of laughter. By delivering wickedly mischievous insights about political culture through a cartoon, Trudeau takes the edge off politics and brings in heart and laughter. Who can forget the talking waffle of Bill Clinton or the floating feather of Dan Quayle?

For more . . . .

*Ø* Blogmanac | Can you hear me now, Verizon? Three strikes, you're OUT!

From Lisa:

As Verizon gets bigger, their batting average plummets!


Strike One: Data-mining a captive audience.

Verizon was already on my shit list for unilaterally deciding that the money they extort from me each month to have an unpublished telephone number (I still have trouble fathoming that it costs money to not do something!) didn't really mean that I didn't want to be contacted by telemarketers... THEIR bleeping telemarketers!! They say I have to "opt out". Up theirs!! They opt me out of my money every month... peace and quiet is what I pay for!

Now I have even more reason to look for another provider:

Strike Two: Verizon wants helpless employees.
[Please use this phrase and link on your own site to googlebomb Verizon.]

The incident I'm about to describe could easily be interpreted as a "gun rights" issue... but, IMHO, it is as much or more about how much say your employer has over what you do when you're not at work.

Last December, Libertarian activist Jeffrey "The Hunter" Jordan was driving home from out of state and got stopped for speeding. Long story short: despite having a concealed carry permit, Jeffrey was arrested and charged with a felony because he was carrying a gun and ammunition.

Jeffrey has yet to stand trial. You will see on his supporters' web pages that there are many legal issues that may result in his exoneration; the verdict is certainly not a foregone conclusion. (I am particularly interested to hear the outcome of their "full faith and credit" argument. You may recognize that phrase from all the homophobic panic about gay marriage.)

Before he even made bail and got back home (a matter of days, btw), Jeffrey's employer, Verizon, suspended him without pay. There was a message on his answering machine, basically telling him not to bother to come to work.

Think about that. On what did they base their decision, if they hadn't even heard from Jeffrey?! They have never claimed that the suspension was for "absenteeism" or some other version of "not showing up". There seems to be absolutely no employment-related violation on Jeffrey's part.

Verizon has a written policy against carrying guns while on company property or on company business... neither of which apply to Jeffrey. He was on his own time and minding his own business. WTF?!

Verizon has engaged in some Rove-worthy evasiveness and intimidation when it comes to Jeffrey. To this day, they refuse to give him a hearing or severance pay, both of which are mandated by his union contract. They also have thusfar refused to pay him previously earned wages. Their only "statement" about Jeffrey's situation has been a vague reference to his alleged violation of some company policy; they did, however, find time to demand that Jeffrey's supporters censor their web pages.

In an effort to save Jeffrey's job, most of the webmasters who were approached (steamrolled) agreed to delete the specified information.

It was after the webmasters' good faith effort that Jeffrey received the certified letter telling him that he had been terminated... retroactively!! (Jeffrey's union, however, is being given a different story, and continues to work on his "suspension"!)

Last time I checked, organizations that make threats and demands but give nothing in return are called terrorists...!

Activists suspect Verizon's intransigence is based on the fact that the charge is a firearms offense. Does Verizon instantaneously suspend (and surreptitiously fire) employees arrested for all offenses — disorderly conduct, trespassing, shoplifting — before they are proven guilty?!

The ultimate irony — or insult — is that Verizon may have paid for firearms training for their executives a few years ago!

Employers increasingly seem to believe that they have the right to run employees' lives — prohibiting things like smoking or drinking in one's own home — or wanting to carry a gun, a right guaranteed (for now, anyway) by the 2nd amendment. What they want to ban on their own property is one thing; to try to tell an employee what they can do in the privacy of their own home or car, off company property, is a gross overstepping of bounds.

LET VERIZON KNOW THAT WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO JEFFREY IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. If you have Verizon landline or cell service, consider taking your business elsewhere. And contact Verizon to let them know why you left.


[Stay tuned for Strike Three!]

P.S.: Dig the creepy inscription on the wall of the courthouse where Jeffrey's trial will take place. (Warning: it is 1184 x 888 pixels, over 360kb... might be a killer on dialup connections.)


Liberty Round Table press release
"Unofficial" Free Hunter page
"Official" Free Hunter page
Liberty Activist Blog

*Ø* Blogmanac | It's Simply Too Heavy a Price to Pay


FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH -- Actions to Take to Make the Difference

Here's an easy one! You can take this action lying down . . . with your eyes closed! Put on your headphones and tune in to the wide and varied voices on our side heard on CSPAN.org or NPR radio. Granted, CSPAN is a great source of liberal voices most of the time but, oddly, April 15th, is jam-packed with subjects in which we're especially interested.

MOST NOTABLY, Democrat Representative Charles Rangel's Speech to the Washington Press Club is really one to remember and one I'd like to reprint here in its entirety if I could. His subject is a brilliant angle (a Rangel angle! LOL) on "taking action" and "serving our country." He calls it "The Death Tax" which is the new name for what was the inheritance tax. But while the wealthy of our nation are getting tax cuts and becoming wealthier, it's the poor who are paying the heaviest of all taxes, their actual death in Iraq. Rep. Rangel talks about shared sacrifice. You've got to hear it to understand. It's an incredibly brilliant -- and informative -- speech! Go there. Put on the headphones, close your eyes and really listen. I believe it will change you. I don't have to suggest that you share it with others. I believe you'll be moved to do so.

http://www.cspan.org

*Ø* Blogmanac | The Homefront Battle Broad-ens


From our friend, Eric, of EP-Rants:

A Link-o-Rama:

http://www.womenagainstbush.org/

The panties are the best!
http://www.womenagainstbush.org/id19.html

Here's another one...
http://www.seeyageorge.com/

And I love the bumper sticker: "Save the environment -- plant a BUSH back in Texas."


Keep up with the battle of the campaign ads at: http://bushout.tv

*Ø* Blogmanac | They said Howard Dean was a draft dodger?!

From Lisa:

Chickenhawk n. A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person's youth.

In a demonstration of why New Hampshire was the destination of choice for the Free State Project, the New Hampshire Gazette has compiled the Chickenhawk Database. It's amazing how many of these folks had "bad knees", yet are to this day engaging their middle-aged bodies in such weight-bearing activities as running!

Quoted from the Chickenhawk Database:
The alleged "gentlemen" [guess they couldn't in good conscience call Ann Coulter a "lady"? –L.] listed in this database are here because they share three qualities: bellicosity (a warlike manner or temperament), public prominence, and a curious lack of wartime service when others their age had no trouble finding the fight. (Sorry, Dan and George W. and Dan Q. — your safe, cushy National Guard slots won't help you now.) The fact that they's almost all Republicans is . . . well, curious, don't you think? No doubt this list is incomplete. Readers are encouraged to nominate their favorite overlooked chickenhawks.


The Gazette has divided the (sadly lengthy) list into groups with something in common (besides being chickenhawks!). Some highlights:

• Chickenhawk Headquarters
  (the Head Chickenhawks associated with the Bush White House)
  
• Barking Head Brigade
  (media bigmouths who, oddly, don't want to talk about their lack of service)
  
• Bureaucratic Battalion
  (some repeats here, but worth a look to see those not previously listed)
  
• Chaplain Corps
  (Never pass up an opportunity to read about the hypocrisy of the pious!)
  
• Politicians Platoon
  (Check here for your favorite — or least favorite! — local politico. This also includes national-scale Repug hacks who haven't been mentioned elsewhere. I couldn't have been more delighted to find Rep. Roscoe 'women-should-be-barefoot-and-pregnant' Bartlett on this list!)
  
• Propaganda Platoon
  (Mostly media and entertainment types — lots of repeats — but fresh pokes at Brit Hume and Lee Greenwood(!))
  
• Sui Generis
  (An entire page devoted to Ted Nugent... wonder where they got that disgusting toon?!)
  
• The Legal Department
  (A must visit... the opening salvo is aimed at Ashcroft. Need I say more?)

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac | US military see Iraqi people as sub-human?

"Senior British commanders have condemned American military tactics in Iraq as heavy-handed and disproportionate. One senior officer said that America's aggressive methods were causing friction among allied commanders and that there was a growing sense of ‘unease and frustration' among the British high command.

"The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said part of the problem was that American troops viewed Iraqis as untermenschen -- the Nazi expression for ‘sub-humans.' Speaking from his base in southern Iraq, the officer said: ‘My view and the view of the British chain of command is that the Americans' use of violence is not proportionate and is over-responsive to the threat they are facing. They don't see the Iraqi people the way we see them. They view them as untermenschen. They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life in the way the British are.'" (Sean Rayment, British commanders condemn US military tactics, the [British] Telegraph)

Source: TomDispatch

*Ø* Blogmanac | Hear no evil, read no evil, speak drivel

Bush's press conference shows just how ill-informed he is about Iraq

Sidney Blumenthal
April 15, The Guardian

"On April 21 1961, President Kennedy held a press conference to answer questions on the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles that he had approved. "There's an old saying," he said, "that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan ... I am the responsible officer of the government and that is quite obvious."

"On Wednesday, President Bush held only his third press conference and was asked three times whether he accepted responsibility for failing to act on warning before September 11. "I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't [sic] yet," he said. "I just haven't - you just put me under the spot here and maybe I'm not quick - as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one."

"Bush's press conference was the culmination of his recent efforts to staunch the political wounds of his bleeding polls since the 9/11 commission began public hearings and violence spiralled in Iraq. Bush had tried to divert blame by declaring that the August 6 memo he was forced to declassify at the commission's insistence contained no "actionable intelligence", even though it specifically mentioned the World Trade Centre and Washington as targets.

"Bush, in fact, does not read his President's Daily Briefs, but has them orally summarised every morning by the CIA director, George Tenet. President Clinton, by contrast, read them closely and alone, preventing any aides from interpreting what he wanted to know first-hand. He extensively marked up his PDBs, demanding action on this or that, which is almost certainly the likely reason the Bush administration withheld his memoranda from the 9/11 commission.

"'I know he doesn't read,' one former Bush national security council staffer told me. Several other former NSC staffers corroborated this. It seems highly unlikely that he read the national intelligence estimate on WMD before the Iraq war that consigned contrary evidence and caveats that undermined the case to footnotes and fine print. Nor is there any evidence that he read the state department's 17-volume report, The Future of Iraq, warning of nearly all the postwar pitfalls, that was shelved by the neocons in the Pentagon and Vice-President Cheney's office.

"Nor was Bush aware of similar warnings urgently being sounded by the military's top strategic analysts ..."

Continue here

[Emphasis mine - N]

· Sidney Blumenthal is former senior adviser to President Clinton and Washington bureau chief of Salon.com

Sidney_Blumenthal@yahoo.com

*Ø* Blogmanac April 15, 2003 | The Mosul Massacre: Forgotten tragedy

2003 The Mosul Massacre. American troops opened fire on anti-US protesters in the northern city of Mosul, Baghdad, killing at least ten unarmed Iraqis.

The Americans had marched their newly appointed puppet in Mosul, Mashaan al-Juburi, onto a stage in front of a few hundred people. The new governor was making a passionate pro-American speech, telling the people that the Americans had come to liberate them and would improve their lives. The crowd retorted he was a liar, and children began to hurl stones at him. People began chanting and denouncing the American occupation.

According to reports, this incensed the American troops, who had been arrogantly moving amongst the crowd with their American flag. When the crowd began to shout "the only democracy is to make the Americans leave" whilst continuing to hurl stones and abuse at the puppet governor, the American troops opened fire upon the people killing and injuring many.

"The people moved towards the government building, the children threw stones, the Americans started firing. Then they prevented the people from recovering the bodies," said Marwan Mohammed, who was amongst the protestors. Dr Iyad al-Ramadhani, from the hospital caring for the victims, said "there are perhaps 100 wounded and 10 to 12 dead". Another doctor reported "The wounded said (the governor) Juburi asked the Americans to fire". 
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Meanwhile, President Bush, speaking in the White House Rose Garden, was declaring that the Iraqi people were "regaining control of their own destiny", US soldiers were turning their weapons on civilians opposed to American and US-appointed rulers. Hours earlier, 20,000 people marched through the southern city of Nasiriyah to oppose Washington's plans to install a puppet government. On the same day, in Baghdad, the US military tried to prevent journalists from reporting on the third straight day of anti-US demonstrations.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | New York Boy Scout Seeks To Enlighten 1,000,000 Of His Fellow Citizens


From Lisa:

We NEED more Eagle Scouts like this one!


Most Americans are sadly uninformed (because that's the way the system wants it) of their rights as jurors. Having been nailed with jury duty 3 times already, I know how much jurors hear about "responsibilities"... but nobody is in a hurry to tell you that you also have rights.

Enter Alexander Navarro, a New York Boy Scout who is working toward his Eagle Scout rank. He has set up a web site, Jurors Rule, to help educate his fellow citizens about the rights of jurors.

My only complaint about the site is that he focuses on his "questionnaire" — which, oddly, does not submit. You must go back to the top and click the "answers" link to get the list of correct answers... which has no record of how you answered. But the list is pretty short, so most folks will be able to handle checking their own responses. (Frankly, if they can't, I don't want them sitting on a jury!)

Jury duty will catch up with you eventually; visit Alexander's site now and be educated when your number is called. Or, if you have already served, read it and weep! You will likely be incensed that you were systematically lied to.

Most of the hard info lies at the sites he lists on his "links" page; but he certainly deserves credit for noticing this situation, and for choosing such a political hot potato for his Eagle project! Visit Jurors Rule and help Alexander reach his 1M goal.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Cut America's Global Warming Pollution NOW!



Redo the will. Start the college fund. Stop global warming.


Urgent Mobilization to Pass McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act

I have just learned that the second vote on the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act has been scheduled in the U.S. Senate for as soon as mid-May and I urgently need your help to ramp up our campaign to win this major environmental victory. Global warming is the most urgent environmental problem facing the world today, and McCain-Lieberman is the most comprehensive and practical approach to cutting America's global warming pollution.

We have precious little time to mobilize and raise the funds necessary to battle powerful special interests in Washington who are opposed to McCain-Lieberman.

In the few weeks we have before the vote, we must raise at least $725,000 if we are to have the resources necessary to win this historic vote.

That's why I am inviting you to become a member of the 51 Club today. The sole purpose of the 51 Club is to raise the financial resources necessary to mobilize the American people to win 51 votes in the Senate to pass the McCain-Lieberman Act. With 51 votes, we will have a global warming majority in the Senate for the first time ever.

To join, I need you to do one simple thing:

* Send $51 or more to finance this urgent campaign.


As a 51 Club member you will receive weekly campaign updates from the field on how your support is making a difference in this historic fight for the future of our planet.

We don't have a moment to lose. Please act today.

Thank you.

Fred Krupp

PS: Every dollar will help us win this critical vote. If you can give more than $51 please consider doing so. If less, know that I appreciate whatever you can do. Donate.


About the 51 Club -- Needed to win a global warming majority in the Senate:

* Fire up grassroots efforts in 5 swing states -- Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Nebraska.
* Get 500,000 Emissions Petition signatures before the Senate Vote. (Have you signed the Petition yet?)
* Flood the media with our message: tv, radio, newspaper and Internet.
* Boost our Capitol Hill lobbying efforts.
* Get a 51-vote majority in the Senate to past the Climate Stewardship Act.
--------------------------------------------------

Tell your friends about this.

*Ø* Blogmanac | BUSH MISSED BILLBOARD OF OSAMA

60-Foot-Tall Sign Appeared Outside White House

"The Bush administration today grappled with allegations that President George W. Bush did not see a sixty-foot-tall billboard featuring Osama bin Laden that appeared suddenly across the street from the White House in August 2001.

"The gigantic billboard, which featured bin Laden’s stern visage and the words 'I AM GOING TO HIJACK U.S. AIRPLANES VERY SOON,' was first spotted by a UPS driver, Clayton Spedding, while making his morning deliveries on Pennsylvania Avenue.

"I was like, 'Didn’t there use to be a Bacardi ad up there?'" Mr. Spedding, 34, told reporters today.

After making his startling discovery, Mr. Spedding called the White House, but was told to call back when he had 'something more specific.'

As Mr. Bush’s apparent failure to notice the bin Laden billboard ignited a new round of finger-pointing in Washington, the President went on the offensive, warning the al-Qaeda kingpin to make future terror threats more explicit or 'face the consequences.'

In a nationally televised address, Mr. Bush said that all future terror threats that did not include 'the who, what, when, where and why' in the first paragraph 'would be completely and categorically ignored.'

In addition to Mr. bin Laden, Mr. Bush singled out Iran and North Korea for making terror threats that were not specific enough, calling them 'The Axis of Vagueness.'

As for the billboard of bin Laden, Mr. Bush said that once he was notified of its existence he took appropriate action: 'I asked the national security staff to find out if Saddam Hussein had put it up there.'

The Borowitz Report

*Ø* Blogmanac | Pentagon crash 'too unrealistic'

Boston Globe:

"WASHINGTON -- Five months before Sept. 11, 2001, the officers responsible for defending American airspace wanted to test their ability to prevent a hijacked airliner from being crashed into the Pentagon, but the scenario was rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as impractical, a Joint Chiefs spokesman confirmed yesterday.

"The disclosure was made after a government watchdog group released a leaked e-mail from a former official at the North American Air Defense Command. In the message, the official told colleagues a week after the attacks that in April 2001 NORAD requested that war games run by the Joint Chiefs include an 'event having a terrorist group hijack a commercial airline ... and fly it into the Pentagon.'"

Continue

*Ø* Blogmanac April 14, 1912 | Sinking of the Titanic

1912 On its maiden voyage, RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean; it finished sinking at about 2:20 am the next day.

It is not true that millionaire passenger Jacob Astor quipped "I ordered ice, but this is ridiculous". 

Sir Lew Grade made a film, Raise the Titanic, based on the best-selling book about the salvage of the disaster liner. The budget blew out and Grade lost £10 million. He is reported to have quipped, "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic".

A young radio operator in New York on April 14, 1912, picked up the message from SS Olympic through the static: "SS Titanic ran into iceberg. Sinking fast". He sat for hours taking down whatever information he could, communicating it to the anxiously waiting world, until he collapsed, exhausted.

The young man was David Sarnoff – later founder of communications giant RCA.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | PM urged to act on 'intelligence failures'

"A senior Army intelligence analyst has written to the [Australian] Prime Minister calling for a royal commission into Australia's intelligence services, claiming there has been systemic failures and a culture of cover up.

"Lieutenant Colonel Lance Collins ran Australia's intelligence operations in East Timor and is currently based at Victoria Barracks in Sydney.

"This week The Bulletin magazine is publishing a letter from Lt Colonel Collins urging Prime Minister John Howard to appoint an impartial, open and wide-ranging royal commission into Australia's intelligence services.

"Lt Colonel Collins lists a series of what he describes as intelligence failures over the last eight years, including Iraq's weapon's of mass destruction, delay in the Willie Brigitte case, and warning of the Bali bombing.

"He insists there has been a failure of insititutional controls over the nation's intelligence system and he fears the will to reform does not exist, only the will to cover-up ..."
Source: ABC Oz

Govt under pressure over Iraq exit strategy

*Ø* Blogmanac | Condoleezza Rice's credibility gap




CLAIM: "The president returned to the White House and called me in and said, I've learned from George Tenet that there is no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11." – National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04
FACT: If this is true, then why did the President and Vice President repeatedly claim Saddam Hussein was directly connected to 9/11? President Bush sent a letter to Congress on 3/19/03 saying that the Iraq war was permitted specifically under legislation that authorized force against "nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11." Similarly, Vice President Cheney said on 9/14/03 that "It is not surprising that people make that connection" between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, and said "we don't know" if there is a connection. [Source: BBC, 9/14/03]
More at: Condoleezza Rice’s Credibility Gap

*Ø* Blogmanac April 13, 1888 | Nobel's change of heart

1888 Alfred Nobel woke in his Paris home and opened the morning newspaper. There, to his surprise, he read his own obituary.

The inventor of dynamite, blasting caps, smokeless gunpowder and hundreds of other mean and nasty things, was very much alive, but his brother Ludwig was not. The newspaper had made a mistake, but it was a mistake that helped Alfred Nobel turn to a new career.

So appalled and ashamed was he with the obituary that described him as a "bellicose monster" and which reported that his discoveries "had boosted the bloody art of war from bullets and bayonets to long-range explosives" – all of which was true, of course – that his conscience pricked him and he decided to make amends somehow.

It was due to the shame of knowing what he had made, and what he had become, that he used some of his great wealth (derived in part from war) to create the Nobel Peace prizes.

Or, so it is said.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Expect more deserters as Iraq force morale hits low

So say US veterans groups

The World Today – Tuesday, 13 April , 2004 12:17:53
Reporter: Karen Percy

TANYA NOLAN: There are fresh reports that the morale of US troops in Iraq is very low in the wake of the hostage takings and intensifying attacks.

And there seems to be growing resentment within the ranks of the military.

On the ABC's Lateline last night two soldiers, who've escaped to Canada in the hopes of seeking refugee status, spoke about their concerns over the war.

Some veterans groups in the US believe there'll be more deserters to come.

Karen Percy reports.

KAREN PERCY: Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey are far from the frontlines in Iraq, but they are engaged in a battle of their own, against the US administration and the war itself.

Last night, they appeared on the ABC's Lateline program from Canada.

Jeremy Hinzman is 25-years-old from South Dakota. He joined the US military in 2001, and served in Afghanistan, but he was not prepared to participate in this war.

JEREMY HINZMAN: Obviously, the Nuremberg Tribunal is saying, as a soldier you have a responsibility to not carry out illegal acts, and that's the logic I used for what I've done. If I were to go to Iraq, I would be taking part in a criminal enterprise.

KAREN PERCY: Since January he's been awaiting news from Canadian authorities, about whether they'll grant him refugee status.

Fellow military deserter, Brandon Huey, is also hoping that he won't have to return to the United States.

BRANDON HUGHEY: I feel that this war is wrong, and I'm not going to let myself be a part in it. Just because I signed a contract, doesn't mean I should throw out my moral principles.

KAREN PERCY: Their cases are being keenly watched by US veterans groups. David Cline is the National President of Veterans for Peace.

DAVID CLINE: There've been a few cases recently, there are several people up there in Canada right now, trying to get refugee status. And there's also been several refusers in the military. There was one guy, Camille O'Mahoney (phonetic), who had served in Iraq, he came home on leave and he refused to go back. And we don't know how many people are out there. There's at least 700 people at this point that they say are AWOL/ deserters. And we don't know where they're at, or what they are doing, but I think that these initial cases, and the outcome of them is going to have an impact on what happens after that.

KAREN PERCY: There is a network of groups across the United States helping those who wish to flee the military and the country. Not all of those groups are keen to talk publicly, but there is talk of establishing yet another underground railway to Canada.

At the very least, deserters face court marshal and perhaps jail time. Still, Veterans for Peace President, David Cline, believes there will be those prepared to voice their dissatisfaction.

DAVID CLINE: I think that the deserters and the resisters are just sort of the tip of the iceberg, and the real iceberg is all the guys in, and women, 'cause there is a large number of women in our military today, who when their time comes up and they get out, are not going to re-enlist.

KAREN PERCY: David Cline says that while the number of deserters is much smaller than that seen in the Vietnam War, if soldiers rebel, there could be major political ramifications.

DAVID CLINE: Increasingly this administration is being compelled to look at the idea of conscription, and if a draft comes in, all hell's going to break loose.

KAREN PERCY: What do you think the chances of that happening are?

DAVID CLINE: Well I don't think anything is going to happen before this election.

KAREN PERCY: A spokesman for the US Consulate in Sydney referred The World Today's queries to the Pentagon in Washington. We were unable to speak to anyone at the Pentagon.

TANYA NOLAN: Karen Percy reporting.

Source: ABC The World Today

*Ø* Blogmanac | Friends in High Places: The Story of Clear Channel

Clear Channel: Lessons in Building a Media Empire

Building a media empire is no simple task. But it helps to know the right people. Our story today is about Clear Channel Communications, the media conglomerate notorious for its vast network of radio stations, but which is increasingly spreading its tentacles across a broad array of music, advertising, and other media. Not surprisingly, this story includes profiles of two brothers closely connected to the Bush administration, which has been very supportive of allowing media conglomerates to grow even larger.

Send your message to John Hogan,
CEO of Clear Channel Radio: ACT NOW!


CONNECTIONS COUNT:

The Hicks brothers and the Bush Administration have had a mutually beneficial relationship for at least a decade. Tom Hicks, vice chairman of Clear Channel, and his brother Steven Hicks, who built and sold a radio empire, together raised about $200,000 for Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000, giving them “Pioneer” fundraiser status. Their connections, however, go much deeper than that.

President Bush's involvement with the Hicks family began shortly after his first gubernatorial victory in 1994. In 1995, as a member of the University of Texas Board of Regents, Tom Hicks successfully lobbied then Governor Bush and the Texas legislature to create the University of Texas Investment Management Company, a private enterprise known as UTIMCO that controlled the school's public funds.

Tom Hicks served as chairman until 1999, when reports surfaced that almost a third of UTIMCO’s $1.7 billion in private equities between 1995 and 1998 had been invested with firms personally or politically connected to Hicks or Bush.

In addition to these questionable dealings, Hicks helped make Bush a very wealthy man in 1998 when he purchased the Texas Rangers for $250 million from the ownership group that included the then-Texas governor. Bush's 1.8 percent stake in the franchise landed him nearly $15 million on a $600,000 investment.

Not surprisingly, Clear Channel is known for advancing an agenda friendly to the Bush Administration. For example, many media critics questioned Clear Channel’s “Rally for America,” a series of controversial 2003 pro-war rallies sponsored and promoted by individual Clear Channel stations throughout the country. [Emphasis added. -v]

Thanks to the efforts of Steven and Tom Hicks and the continuing erosion of media ownership laws, Clear Channel now stands as the largest owner of radio stations in the country, with more than 1,200. It also owns 39 television stations, a number that could grow under new media ownership laws, as well as 135 live entertainment venues, 41 amphitheaters in the United States, 30 venues in Europe and a half million outdoor billboards worldwide. [Emphasis added. -v]

Read the entire story on the Hicks brothers and their connections to the Bush administration:


WHAT DOES CLEAR CHANNEL OWE US?

Clear Channel reaches some 180 million listeners across the country. They do so using airwaves that are the property of the American people. Clear Channel merely holds a broadcasting license for them. With that kind of privilege comes great responsibility. Common Cause thinks Clear Channel owes the public more. [Emphasis added. -v]

Read more about Clear Channel and find their stations in your community.


What do you think about radio? Because YOU own these airwaves, you have a voice in changing them.
Join us and send a message to Clear Channel as we ask the company to do better.


What would you like hear more of:

More local musicians on your favorite radio station?
More coverage of local and national elections and issues?
More news stories of local interest?
More diverse opinions on talk radio?
You Decide! Now let Clear Channel know.

Send your message to John Hogan,
CEO of Clear Channel Radio: ACT NOW!


Know someone who would like to send Clear Channel an opinion? Forward this message!

Support our Common Cause campaigns.

---
Related Articles:

Clear Channel Sucks
by Hector Carosso
http://www.bnfp.org/neighborhood/Carosso030508.htm

Apparently ClearChannelSucks.org has been "disappeared." Too bad. It put up a great freedom fight! In its place has appeared ClearChannelBites. Long may she run!

*Ø* Blogmanac | "What To Do With Moqtada Al-Sadr"

Contrary to what we hear about "insurgents" being responsible for the resistance against American forces and deaths of American troops in Iraq, there's quite a bit going on over there that we're not hearing about in our mainstream media. The following past PINR analyses are relevant when understanding the current Shi'a uprising:

''Still No Light at the End of the Tunnel in Iraq''
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=155

''Iraq's Most Pressing Political Issues Have Yet to be Addressed''
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=145

''Al-Sistani's Next Move''
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=136

''Anticipating the Presidential Election, Bush Administration Pulls Troops Out
of Baghdad''
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=147

------------------------------

"What To Do With Moqtada Al-Sadr"
Drafted by Erich Marquardt on April 08, 2004
Power and Interest News Report (PINR)

Pushing Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani into the shadows, Shi'a leader Moqtada al-Sadr has emerged into the Iraqi spotlight, finally flexing his muscles by calling his followers into open confrontation with the United States. Al-Sadr has created a dilemma for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) because his rabid anti-Americanism makes him difficult to negotiate with, yet his large, dedicated following warrants that course.

Al-Sadr, just at the tender age of 31, is the son of respected Shi'a cleric Mohamed Sadeq al-Sadr, who was assassinated by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party in 1999 due to his outspoken criticism of its policies. The rest of his family -- including his two older brothers and a famous uncle -- were also murdered by Ba'ath Party operatives.

With such big shoes to fill, al-Sadr is hoping to leave his mark on Iraqi society, utilizing the power gained from his prominent family background to rally Iraq's Shi'a together against a common enemy. With the Ba'ath Party dissolved, that enemy has become the new wielder of power in Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition. Hoping to prove to Washington that he is a force that must be contended with, al-Sadr wants to be intimately involved in decisions regarding the future of the Iraqi state.

After the fall of Saddam, al-Sadr quickly worked to fill the newly created power vacuum in Baghdad. In the early days after the U.S.-led invasion, al-Sadr sent his disciples into the Baghdad streets to hand out food and water at a time when social services were either insufficient or non-existent. His private militia, known as the Mehdi Army, provided desperately needed security in Baghdad's Shi'a slums. All of these quick actions undertaken by al-Sadr boosted his reputation in the eyes of Iraq's Shi'a, earning him much more respect than the CPA.

Therefore, when the CPA decided to shut down his newspaper, al-Hawza, there was bound to be a power struggle. It was clear from the start of this struggle which side Iraq's Shi'a would be on.

The justification for shutting down al-Hawza stemmed from the fact that al-Sadr's fiery anti-American rhetoric was becoming increasingly incendiary toward the CPA. Openly criticizing the leadership of the U.S. in Iraq, al-Sadr was beginning to concern Washington policymakers. While he never publicly called his followers into open revolt against CPA troops, he was continuously tarring the image of the CPA, and at the same time buoying his prestige and power in the Shi'a community.

This created a difficult situation for the CPA. The CPA could have chosen to embrace al-Sadr, to offer him a prominent role in the new Iraqi government, but al-Sadr's ideology is so at odds with U.S. interests that Washington was unwilling to go this route. The second option, which is the course that the U.S. has followed since the fall of Saddam, was to simply ignore al-Sadr, and not exacerbate tensions with him. This explains why the United States did little to disarm al-Sadr's Mehdi Army even though the CPA publicly stated that private militias were outlawed in Iraq. However, in recent days, due to the increasing stature of al-Sadr, Washington chose to give up its policy of isolation and move directly against al-Sadr's interests.

Once the CPA shut down al-Hawza, al-Sadr responded with even more anti-American tongue lashing. Washington retaliated by arresting one of his top deputies on a year-old murder charge, which was basically used as an excuse to punish al-Sadr for his anti-American stance. It was then that al-Sadr called for his followers to openly defy U.S.-led troops in the streets of Iraq. This civil uprising among the Shi'a community led to many Iraqi deaths and over a handful of CPA troop losses.

Now, the CPA has put out a warrant for the arrest of al-Sadr, on the same year-old murder charge that his deputy is being held for. Al-Sadr has apparently moved into the city of Najaf, surrounded and protected by his followers and his private militia. It will be very significant to see how Washington decides to proceed from this point. While al-Sadr is an obstacle for the CPA, the alternative of arresting him is bound to create massive unrest in Iraq's Shi'a community. CPA forces are already so taxed and spread so thin that, without a significant influx of new troops, it will have a difficult time quelling any Shi'a uprising as long as attacks in the Sunni Arab areas continue too. Hoping to strengthen his hand, U.S. General John Abizaid has apparently requested more troops from the Pentagon.

Furthermore, while al-Sadr is often scorned by other Shi'a leaders, his movement against the CPA is so popular among Shi'a that other clerics have been very cautious in speaking out against him. For example, the highest religious authority among Iraq's Shi'a, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has called for an end to the violence but said that the motives behind al-Sadr's revolt were "legitimate."

Al-Sadr wants to make it clear that he has the power to alter U.S. plans in Iraq and, because of this power, he expects Washington to compromise on its interests and allow al-Sadr to have a significant role in Iraqi politics. There is no simple way to alleviate the situation and any mistakes made at this point in Iraq's progression could be detrimental to the future success of the U.S.-led reconstruction efforts.

SOURCE

-----
The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an analysis-based publication that seeks to, as objectively as possible, provide insight into various conflicts, regions and points of interest around the globe. PINR approaches a subject based upon the powers and interests involved, leaving the moral judgments to the reader. This report may not be reproduced, reprinted or broadcast without the written permission of inquiries@pinr.com. All comments should be directed to content@pinr.com.

*Ø* Blogmanac | The Daily Outrage by Matt Bivens

Bookmark this one! -v

Welcome to "The Daily Outrage," your last best hope to keep up with the blizzard of Bush-era bad news. Whether they're cutting down your forests, raiding your retirement funds, reading your email or shrinking your constitutional rights, the Republican (sometimes it's bipartisan) assault advances by the hour. The outrages come so fast that it's hard for even well-read citizens to stay abreast. So this column will provide you with a regular update on their doings. Pass it on.


Nero Fiddles

A "war-time president" wouldn't skip town just as the combat situation soured.

Which must by why George W. Bush has skipped town.

Yes, he's taken another unearned vacation down in Texas, where he's been showing off his expansive ranch to representatives of the National Rifle Association and other "sporting aficionados and conservation groups."

Now, why true sportsmen would have any interest in the anti-Teddy Roosevelt -- the President who's weakened protections on as much land as Roosevelt set aside, and whose shootin'-fish-in-a-barrel sidekick is Dick Cheney -- is beyond me.

But it's good to know that George W. Bush has found time for a 500th vacation day, even as the ever-rising American death toll in Iraq reaches 628. (For all of you shrill semantic hair-splitters out there who divide war zone sacrifices into those that count and those that don't, the toll of Americans killed in full-on combat action stands, at this writing, at 455. It's no doubt rising even as I type this.)

And yet Bring 'Em On Bush is taking it manfully in stride. As The Washington Post reports, "This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office ... Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency." [Emphasis added. -v]

That includes a month-long kick-back in August 2001 that was the longest presidential vacation in 32 years. [Emphasis added. -v]

Forty percent of his presidency! That's the equivalent of taking paid leave off from Jan. 1 to May 24. Must be nice. But it sure does cast a harsh new light on this Administration's anti-weekend drive to scale back overtime pay.

CONTINUE

[Hey! If Dubya is such a big cowboy, how come we've never seen him on a HORSE?! We've seen him fall off a Segway, but you'd think on horseback would be a great photo-op. Just as I thought! All hat, no cattle and skeered o'horses. -v]

*Ø* Blogmanac April 12 | Easter Monday

The Biddenden Dole
The Biddenden Maids and the Chulkhurst Charity

The Biddenden Maids, Elisa (or Eliza) and Mary Chulkhurst, were conjoined twins (sometimes called Siamese twins) who were born in Biddenden, Kent, England in 1100. In the popular imagination of the time, the death of King William was associated with the Maids and other 'anomalous' occurrences.They were joined at the hip, although illustrations also depict them joined at the shoulder. Mary and Elisa died in 1134 and left their estate for an unusual charity, associated with Easter Monday. It is said that the death of one was followed in a few hours by the death of the other.

On Easter Monday (some sources say Easter Sunday) some six hundred so-called Biddenden cakes are distributed among parishioners who attended the afternoon services at the church, as well as some about hundred loaves of bread, each of three and a half pounds weight, and each accompanied by a pound and a half of cheese. Beer also used to be distributed until the seventeenth century but the bread, cheese and cakes are still allocated. As well as the picture of the sisters on the cakes their names appear, and on the apron of one is written the number 34 – the age at which Elisa and Mary died.

The endowment comes from the earnings of an estate known as the Bread and Cheese lands, which, according to the best authorities, were some centuries ago left to the parish for this purpose by the Chulkhurst sisters (some sources give their surname as Preston).

The Biddenden cakes have impressed on them the figures of the sisters. What we know of the story of the Biddenden Maids largely comes from a handbill that used to be printed and sold on the spot, entitled 'A Short but Concise Account of Elizabeth and Mary Chalkhurst'.

We note, too, that a similar story has been told of two females whose figures appear in the pavement of Norton St. Philip Church in Somersetshire, England. Edward Hasted in his History of Kent (1798) has examined the Biddenden myth, and decides that it arose simply from the rough impression on the cakes, which had been printed in this manner only within the preceding fifty years.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | How GI bullies are making enemies of their Iraqi friends

Iraqis who detested Saddam and welcomed the invasion are uniting against a new perceived oppressor – the US. Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad.

"It should have been a weekend of celebration – the first anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the first chance in decades for millions of Iraqi Shiites to join the Arbi'een pilgrimage to the southern shrine city of Kerbala – their holiest day which had been outlawed by Saddam.

"Instead, the country is in convulsions and it seems the Americans have already lost the battle for Iraqi hearts and minds ...

"Sadeer, my driver in Baghdad, is leaning the same way.

"When he arrived at the Palestine Hotel yesterday he was limping; the leg of his jeans was soaked in blood. The cut was small and we were able to bandage it, but George Bush had lost another Iraqi friend.

"Sadeer, a 28-year-old Shiite, had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Americans and he takes his life in his hands by working for me. Iraqis are being executed just for being in the company of Westerners.

"But his encounter with a bullying US soldier, who roughed him up as he came through the security cordon around the hotel, has pushed him into the nationalist Iraqi camp.

"When the GI challenged him, Sadeer tried to explain in his limited English that he entered the hotel routinely. But he was barked at, shoved away and then belted on the foot with a rifle. He used to slow in traffic to greet the US troops. Now he has turned: 'Americans bad for Iraq – too many problems.'

"Leaving the hotel on foot, we had to go through the same streets to get to his car. I tried to explain our movements to the officer in charge of a US tank unit, but we were greeted with a stream of invective.

"As I thanked the officer for his civility and moved on, one of his men fell in beside me, mumbling. Asked to repeat himself, he exploded: 'Don't you f---in' eyeball me.'

"Nodding to his officer and raising his weapon, he shrieked: 'He has rank to lose. I don't. I'll take you out quick as a flash, motherf---er!'
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

*Ø* Blogmanac | Govt asked me to lie on Iraq WMDs

Sacked Aussie defence adviser claims

"A senior Defence Department adviser says she lost her job because she refused to write a briefing paper, which she says would have lied about the threat posed by Iraq's weapons programs.

"Jane Errey was a senior adviser with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation until she was sacked last week ...

"Ms Errey says the Defence Department asked her to write a briefing paper claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but that was not backed up by intelligence material she had seen.

"'I believe I was being asked, as was the rest of the department at that time, to perpetuate the lie that the Government was putting forward in so far as the weapons of mass destruction existed and that they were a grave threat to the rest of the world,' Ms Errey said ..."
Source: ABC

*Ø* Blogmanac | "The Cost of Not Knowing" and "Those to whom Evil is Done Do Evil in Return"



Two From Debra:




Dave of the blog How to Save the World has an essay about "the cost of not knowing, part II" (part I is here) that draws a connection between Lucky, presumably the dog shown above, who was rescued from an abusive owner, and most of the population of the modern world. After Lucky's rescue, people asked, why did he keep going back to the abusive man who almost killed him, even at the risk of his life? Dave says: "It obviously didn't occur to the reporter that Lucky came back for more abuse because that's the only life he knew. He couldn't have survived in the wild, and couldn't have known that another, better life could be had in just about any other house, as part of any other family.
"We are all, in a real sense, like Lucky. Most of us, all over the world, struggle every day, and put up with a huge amount of stress and unhappiness in our lives. Compared to the hunter-gatherers who lived for millions of years before modern civilization, we work much harder and longer to make a living, we face much more physical and psychological violence (in our neighbourhoods, in our workplaces, in our war-torn world, and sometimes even in our homes), we suffer from many more physical and psychological diseases and illnesses, we live in crowded, polluted, mostly run-down communities, in constant fear (of an infinite number of things, most notably not having enough), and we are oppressed with hierarchies, laws, rules and restrictions that would have driven our ancient ancestors quite mad. "Why do we put up with it? Because it's the only life we know. . ."

Read more to find out what your options really are.


---0---0---0---

Those to whom evil is done do evil in return

Dave at Orcinus had an excellent post on Monday, musing philosophically about the violent death and mutilation of Americans in Iraq. He was one of at least two bloggers to note a similarity between the photo not widely circulated (for obvious reasons) and photos of patriotic white Americans and their mutilation victims, in this case the lynched "Negroes" of the Jim Crow south. I thought of this exquisitely depressing poem by W. H. Auden, one of my favourites of all time, which, unfortunately, I find myself trotting out from time to time as it again begins to describe my bleak worldview to a "t". An excerpt or two:

"I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again."
. . .

"Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good."
. . .

"All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die."

*Ø* Blogmanac | Invaluable GI Special; Iraq and 9/11 Links

I'N'I -- INVESTIGATING THE 'NEW' IMPERIALISM
From William Bowles


Iraq

Check out the invaluable GI Special:

"This Shit Has Got To Stop" (10/04/04)
http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/gi_255/gi_255.pdf

'War Reports'
http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/gi_254/gi_254.pdf

And for back issues:
http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/

Targeted Fallujah Mosque --Actually Full of Worshippers --
Gen. Kimmet Says They Were the Enemy
http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/fallujah_mosque.html

Marchers break through US roadblocks
http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/fallujah_roadblock.html

HATE AMERICAN STYLE:
IRAQ TREES BEARING STRANGE FRUIT
http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/fallujah_rage.html

US kills hundreds of Iraqis
http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/roundup.html

Iraq Index:
http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/


911

William Rivers Pitt: 20 Questions for Condi
http://www.williambowles.info/911/20_questions_condi.html

Questions for Condi Rice
http://www.williambowles.info/911/questions_condi.html

UQ Wire: Questions About Saudi Flights After 9/11
http://www.williambowles.info/911/911_saudi.html

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEPT 11
Compiled by Gerard Holmgren
Last updated April 2 2004
http://www.williambowles.info/911/911_comp.html


Media

The Quest for a Monopoly on Violence
By Norman Solomon
http://www.williambowles.info/media/violence.html
--

i'n'i - Investigating the 'new' imperialism +44(0)7732-836-093

"Always appear what you are" - Mary Wollstonecraft

*Ø* Blogmanac April 9, 2003 | How they faked the toppling of Hussein's statue

2003 The US Military faked the tearing down of the statue of Saddam Hussein for the world's media.

For Donald Rumsfeld the scene was "breathtaking". For the British Army it was "historic". For BBC Radio it was "amazing". For people who discovered how they did it, it was a cynical exercise of the Bush administration in deceiving the people of the United States of America, and of the world.

On televisions around the world, the US government, with the complicity of media corporations and their 'embedded' journalists, told the lie that crowds of rapturous locals pulled down Hussein's statue in the main square of Baghdad. This, of course, was a utilisation of the time-tested archetype the world is familiar with, especially from the time of the fall of the Soviet Union when statues of Lenin came tumbling down in many places. Military public relations officers must have seen the significance and thus staged the Baghdad event. Here's how it was done:

What really happened
Photos from a hotel adjacent to the square, plainly show US military vehicles and tanks preventing access to the square, with only a small number of people assembled at the statue. Because the manipulated media showed the world close-up footage and adroitly cropped photos of the so-called 'crowd', it falsely appeared that jubilant Iraqis were tearing down the statue.

In fact, Rumsfeld's "breathtaking" crowd was basically just a few military and managed media personnel, and some Iraqis brought in for the photo opportunity, some of whom has just arrived from outside the country, it has been alleged. At the time, the true version of the events circulated widely on the Internet, including the Almanac, much to the anger of people worldwide.

Insult to injury
But wait, there's more. While Dubya scratches his head and asks "Why do they hate us?", the US military made yet another tactical blunder even bigger than this pretence that Iraq will now be happy and the US has finished its job there. To top off the charade, they clumsily revealed that they had not come on a spurious 'WMDs' mission but to gain control of some great oil-rich Middle Eastern real estate. This they did by draping a flag over the statue's head. An Iraqi people's flag? No, the good ol' stars 'n' stripes was unfurled, watched by simmering billions worldwide.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | American Caligula Redux, a recommendation


[As if the day-to-day news isn't enough to wear one to a frazzle!
Lest we forget . . . an occasional run down memory lane does a body good. -v]


From DUG:

George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography
by Webster G. Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin

INTRODUCTION: American Caligula

The thesis of this book is simple: if George Bush were to be re-elected in November 1992 for a second term as the president of the United States, this country and the rest of the world would face a catastrophe of gigantic proportions.

The necessity of writing this book became overwhelming in the minds of the authors in the wake of the ghastly slaughter of the Iraq war of January-February 1991. That war was an act of savage and premeditated genocide on the part of Bush, undertaken in connivance with a clique in London which has, in its historical continuity, represented both the worst enemy of the long-term interests of the American people, and the most implacable adversary of the progress of the human species.

The authors observed George Bush very carefully as the Gulf crisis and the war unfolded, and had no doubt that his enraged public outbursts constituted real psychotic episodes, indicative of a deranged mental state that was full of ominous portent for humanity. The authors were also horrified by the degree to which their fellow citizens willfully ignored the shocking reality of these public fits. A majority of the American people proved more than willing to lend its support to a despicable enterprise of killing.

By their role-call votes of January 12, 1991, the Senate and the House of Representatives gave their authorization for Bush's planned and imminent war measures to restore the Emir of Kuwait, who owns and holds chattel slaves. That vote was a crime against God's justice.

This book is part of an attempt to help them to survive anyway, both for the sake of the world and for their own sake. It is intended as a contribution to a process of education that might still save the American people from the awesome destruction of a second Bush presidency. It is further intended as a warning to all citizens that if they fail to deny Bush a second term, they will deserve what they get after 1993.

Link to Online eBook Here


"He who fails to learn from history is doomed to repeat it." -- Santayana

*Ø* Blogmanac | Poppy Bush's Shameless Flip-Flopping

From Lisa:

[...and they accuse Kerry of being "flip or flop"...!

I'm here to report another "right"... or, at least, the abject failure of a "wrong". You just can't keep Helen Thomas down! She may have been evicted from the royal court (a.k.a. the White House press corps) for asking the tough questions... but, in that devil-may-care fashion that develops in women as they get older (think Granny D), she continues taking potshots from the gallery. YOU GO GIRL!! –L.]


Bush Sr. Has Questions To Answer On Iraq
'H.W.' Speaks Of 'Progress,' 'Miracle' In Iraq Despite Carnage

POSTED: 5:23 p.m. EDT April 7, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Dear Mr. President:

I can understand your emotional defense of your son when you spoke to the Petrochemical and Refiners Association in San Antonio last week. [A Bush schmoozing with oil men... who'da thunk? –L.]

You referred to the hurt you feel when you think the current President Bush has been criticized unfairly by the news media.

You told the oil executives that you found it "deeply offensive and contemptible" to hear "elites and intellectuals on the campaign trail" dismiss progress in Iraq since last year's overthrow of Saddam Hussein. ["Elites and intellectuals"? How about grieving military families? or emotionally and physically (and often financially) scarred military men and women who have served in this misguided enterprise?! –L.]

Well, the "progress" you speak of is not too apparent right now, with thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of Americans dead and thousands wounded on both sides. And there's no end in sight.

Although you called the advances made in Iraq "a miracle," the daily headlines about the war in Iraq speak more of heartaches than miracles.

I think you will find there is a multitude of Americans — not just some pundits — who also feel that the price of your son's "war of choice" is too high. [Don't get your hopes up, Helen... this is a guy who hadn't even heard of barcode scanning at the supermarket. Now, as then, he has his elbow firmly on the pulse of America! –L.]

On that point, check out the new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. It shows that only 40 percent of Americans approve of the way your son is handling Iraq. In January, 59 percent approved.

You said there was "something ignorant in the way they dismiss the overthrow of a brutal dictator and the sowing of the seeds of basic human freedom in that troubled part of the world."

But Mr. President, you served as a professional public servant long enough to know that criticism goes with the turf — especially during an unpopular war.

The question is this: Why does the 2003 "shock and awe" invasion of Baghdad all make sense to you now — but you decided back in 1991 not to carry the first Gulf war deep into Iraq after Kuwait had been liberated?

Back then, you made it quite clear that the human cost of invading would be devastating if American troops would fall into a Vietnam-style quagmire in Iraq.

Furthermore, you made sure that the United States had the support of the global community before attacking the Iraqi occupiers of Kuwait.

You talked 28 nations into joining the U.S.-led coalition. And you knew that if you had tried to go beyond your mandate and evict Saddam, the coalition would break up.

In your San Antonio speech, you said: "Iraq is moving forward in hope and not sliding back into despair and terrorism."

Perhaps you are unaware that even the president has conceded that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and the Osama bin Laden terrorists.

Of course, outsiders have flocked to Iraq since the U.S. occupation to help the Iraqi resistance oppose yet one more Western occupation of a nation whose civilization goes back 5,000 years. [As did the irreplaceable antiquities we allowed to be looted from the museum. IMNSHO, causing or allowing (or both!) the "disappearance" of an entire culture's history is its own form of genocide. –L.]

Not only was there no connection between Saddam and bin Laden but you obviously know by now that the president's claim that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction also turned out to be wrong.

And, of course, the administration's claim that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States also has turned out to be an empty scare-tactic.

Do you think we should forget the fiction that took us into the Middle East conflagration and drift along with the conventional wisdom that we now have to stay in Iraq simply because we are there?

Did it disturb you to have your son thumb his nose at the United Nations, where you once served with grace as the U.S. representative? (The president has since learned the relevance of the world body.)

Your advice to your son throughout this ordeal has been private. But I wonder whether you cautioned him against taking the nation to war to avenge you after Saddam reportedly targeted you for assassination back in 1993.

Is that why we are in a war with Iraq? Some people think so. Or did we covet Iraq's vast oil reserves. Or did we go to war to satisfy the geopolitical ambitions of the president's hawk advisers who are intent on empire building in the Middle East?

Right now the administration is running on empty when it comes to explaining why we are in Iraq. I wonder what justification the White House will come up with to justify continuing the carnage.

Sincerely, Helen Thomas

(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com)

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac | More chinks appear in Aussie gov't's armour



Opposition welcomes Fraser's comments on Iraq
"Australia: The Federal Opposition has welcomed comments by former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser comparing the Iraq war to the conflict in Vietnam.

"Mr Fraser voiced his concerns about the situation in Iraq saying it is clear the Americans are no longer in control.

"Labor leader Mark Latham has said he is worried the latest violence in Iraq could see Australia caught up in a long-term engagement, similar to Vietnam ..."

Source: ABC

[Note that Fraser was not only a long-serving Prime Minister of Australia, of the same Liberal party as the present Howard Government that committed troops to invade Iraq. He was also Minister of Defence during some of the years that Australia was in Vietnam. That's what makes his comments the more remarkable.]


Iraq should cost PM his job: ex-Liberal president
"Former Liberal Party president John Valder says Prime Minister John Howard deserves to lose the next election over his decision to go to war in Iraq.

"Mr Valder has told ABC Radio's AM program that there is a case for the leaders of the international coalition to face war crimes trials.

"'If you go into your neighbours' [house] ... and smash the place up ... on perhaps some precept or other that proves to be wrong, of course you'd go to court and go to jail,' Mr Valder said.

"'I've got to say that applies to the leaders of Britain, the United States and Australia.'"
Source: ABC

*Ø* Blogmanac April 8 | Buddha's Birthday

Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true. [paraphrased]
The Buddha

Buddha's Birthday, for Mahayana Buddhists
Although Theravada Buddhists celebrate the birth of the Buddha at the fifth full moon of the year, usually in May, many Mahayana Buddhists (mostly in East Asia) celebrate today because of the Westernisation of their calendar, replacing lunar with solar dates ...


Hana Matsuri (Flower Festival; Buddha?s Birthday), Japan
On Buddha's birthday in Japan, Buddhist shrines and temples fill with joyful celebrants. Hana Matsuri or Doll's Festival is celebrated as a prayer for the well-being of the young girls. All families decorate their dolls with peach blossoms and rice crackers. People take turns pouring hydrangea tea over the head of the bronze statue of the infant Buddha. Originally it was a lunar holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month but now, like many Japanese festivals, set in the Gregorian calendar.

'Hana' means flowers in Japanese, and, 'matsuri? means festival and Buddha?s natal day conveniently coincides with the blooming of the cherry blossoms in Japan. The festival?s origins have been estimated to have most likely been during the late Kamakura era or the early Muromachi era. An itinerant priest (yamabushi) of Kumano and a sage (hijiri) of Kaga Hakusan mountain introduced the festival into the upper basin of the few tributaries of the Tenryuu river.
Processions take place in many places, with children dressed up in their finest kimonos, chanting their way to the temple alongside decorative floats.

A highlight of the festival is, the Oni no mai, or dance of the demon. An Oni appears as a demon, but actually is an embodiment of the god. In olden times it was believed that the deity would appear as a demon to make their wishes come true.

The climax of the festival is called Yubayashi. The dancers soak a bunch of Sakaki (holy branches) into boiling water in a huge iron pot, and splash the hot water over the others. People believe that if they are soaked with the hot water, they are assured of good health for the year.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Loving Tribute to Allen Cohen, Luminary of the Sixties


From our Friend, Eric, of EP-Rants:

I've received some sad news about my friend Allen Cohen, and I've been
asked to pass this information along.

I'd like to ask you to share a prayer for my friend.

E.P.

http://www.sfheart.com/cohen.html
http://www.familydog.com/allen.html
http://www.sixties.com/html/cohen.html
http://www.sfheart.com/liberation_of_iraq.html

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From: JCFlyer33@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 5, 2004 10:50:52 AM US/Pacific
To: ep@octalouie.com
Subject: Allen Cohen

Louie . . . Could you please pass this along to your list.. thx.. JC


Friends and Family:

It is with sadness that I report that our friend Allen Cohen is in the
end stage of his brave fight for life. Allen wants to express his
eternal gratitude to all who have helped him during the past several
months. It was just this past October that Allen received his new liver
and had seemed to make the crucial turn that would ensure many years of
good health. Unfortunately, by year-end the liver cancer that had been
in remission prior to his surgery returned again finding a new home in
his pelvis. Despite six weeks of intensive radiation therapy, the
tumor continued to grow and spread, leaving Allen weak and ill beyond
description. Tonight as Allen attends what will surely be his last
Seder, we ask that you give a moment of silence at 7:30PM (PST). As
the world around us is engulfed in war, we want to celebrate the life
of a man of peace. Allen Cohen is a visionary warrior who has
continued to fight the good fight to the very end. We are celebrating
the life of a teacher who has planted seeds of peace for generations
to come. It would be nice if we all could rally around Allen in what
is now his final hours as his spirit travels into the afterlife where
we will all meet again.

In love and light,

J.C. Juanis

````````````````````````````
A multi-part tribute to Allen can be found at A-Changin' Times (ACT) for those who would like to remember or newly acquaint themselves with the man, his life and his legacy. Peace.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Hearts, Minds and Padlocks

In case you missed it . . . .


Hearts, Minds and Padlocks
New York Times Editorial
Published on Tuesday, March 30, 2004

With so many forces trying to prove that America cannot bring stability and democracy to Iraq, it was sad to see the Bush administration's proconsul there, Paul Bremer III, issuing an order that is likely to set back both of those desirable goals. In a scene distressingly evocative of neighboring Middle Eastern autocracies, Mr. Bremer sent American soldiers to shut down and padlock a popular Baghdad newspaper on Sunday. The stated reason was that by printing false anti-American rumors, the Shiite weekly, Al Hawza, stirred up hatred, undermined stability and indirectly incited violence.

One of the dispatches that led to the closing of Al Hawza was a February report claiming that an American missile, not a terrorist car bomb, had caused an explosion that killed more than 50 Iraqi police recruits. False charges like that have helped poison Iraqi opinion against American forces and made their difficult and dangerous job even more so. Yet it is possible to condemn such malicious rumor-mongering without endorsing the paper's shutdown, which, though ostensibly for 60 days, could prove permanent.

Newspapers like Al Hawza do not create the hostility Americans face in Iraq — they reflect it. Shutting them down, however satisfying it may feel to the Bush administration, is not a promising way to dissolve that hostility. The occupation authorities have plenty of means, including their own television station, to get out a more favorable message.

It is hard to believe that the thousands of outraged Baghdadis who watched American forces chain and lock the doors of the newspaper offices will now refuse to believe hateful rumors circulated by preachers, leaflets and word of mouth. Nor is this demonstration of military censorship likely to help convince skeptical Iraqis that the main reason for America's continued occupation of their country is to help transform it into a regional showcase of American-style freedoms.

There are times when the demands of security and the demands of democracy tug in opposite directions. This was not one of them. By driving Al Hawza's rumors and anti-American sentiments underground, Mr. Bremer made both of those central goals that much harder to achieve.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac | Brendan Nelson's modest proposal

The bouquet
I hope you'll excuse me while I munch on this bowl of sugar topped with honey and treacle, but you'll understand that I always do it, to get the bitter taste out, on the few occasions I give a bouquet to Australia's so-called Liberal Party government. (English-speaking people will have to try to comprehend, with us mere Aussies, that in Australia the arch-conservative party is called the Liberal Party. Don't ask me why. We haven't come as far as calling the Labor Party the Bourgeois Party, but we're obviously as silly as a two-bob watch so it's high time we did, and who could argue against it anyway? But back to my point.)

Excuse me. (Munch, munch.) The point. I dips me lid – otherwise doffs me hat – to that terrible conservative Dr Brendan Nelson, Liberal Minister for Education, who has sensibly announced he is at last going to do something about the appalling shortage of male teachers in the states' education systems. Good on him. He says that 14 per cent of boys in this country will finish their school years without ever having had a significant male role model in their lives, whether father or teacher. We know that boys suffer major educational disadvantage as evidenced by truckloads of reports into literacy, numeracy and virtually every other yardstick. We know that by these yardsticks boys were doing better 35 years ago.

Most of us have no doubt that lack of male mentoring for boys is at a crisis level. For example, the single most predictive factor in male imprisonment is fatherlessness – not ethnicity, socio-economic status, place of residence, not educational attainment, literacy nor any other factor known to the Chardonnay set. We know that male teachers are outnumbered by females in the order of about seven to one; who can doubt what an outcry there would be if the figures were in reverse?

We know that boys leave school earlier, no doubt discouraged, probably to spend the rest of their short lives dodging injury from lumps of steel, industrial equipment, fumes, dirt, dust, alcohol and the rest of the grunge that kills men nearly ten long years before their sisters. We know that our boys have far higher rates of suicide, illiteracy, injury, death, drug addiction, mental and other illnesses, and many other ills – evils that are called, in the PC Handbook, 'disadvantage' when found to afflict any other minority.

Brendan (munch, munch, ptuii, munch, swallow, gulp, munch) Nelson wants something that a man with a cork eye (probably a timber worker – count his fingers, too) can see is needed in this country: incentives for males to enter the teaching profession. Nelson proposes scholarships for men to study education. No big deal. Not a big plunge into the taxpayer's pocket, compared to some of the crap we fork out for.

The brickbat
That, dear reader, is the (munch, ptuii!!) bouquet. Now for the brickbat. I hurl it to, at, above, under, around or through Ms Jenny Macklin, the Labor Party's Shadow Minister for Education – Dr Nelson's political opponent. What does she think of this idea for boys? "Discrimination!" she cries.

Good idea, dear reader. Let's all pause for breath. Isn't what Ms Macklin calls 'discrimination' properly called 'affirmative action'? That's what the Ms Macklins of the country have argued so vociferously for – and won – in a host of segments of our society. One struggles to recall any Ms Macklin on any soapbox in this wide, brown land calling for 'discrimination' for women. Come to think of it, Ms Macklin's Labor Party has what it calls an 'affirmative action' program of its own, to ensure that female members of Ms Macklin's party gain preselection for electoral candidature. (The fact that, without having such a policy, the conservative Libs have more women in Parliament than Labor is an embarrassing detail we won't go into here, due to a shortage of brickbats.)

Will Ms Macklin, who is so intent on opposing Dr Nelson's modest proposal, put a motion at the next Labor Party gabfest at whichever beach resort (blue cocktails, pink umbrellas) that in future they strike out 'affirmative action' from its tons of documents, and insert the synonym 'discrimination'? The Labor Party has roomsful of inkpissers so they could knock the job over in a few days. Hell, here's an inkpisser who'll help 'em. I could use a few days on a banana chair.

Nelson's solution to the sad lack of males teaching our males is, one hopes, just one plank in a much-needed platform of creative ideas. Australian schools will keep getting monkeys of both sexes until the state governments (all but one of them Labor) stop paying peanuts to educational professionals. We will need support for males entering such an inordinately female-dominated workplace. We need policies to turn around the culture of suspicion and enmity that have been engendered, for yawningly obvious power purposes, with regard to males. Men need a chance to start believing that Australia's rampant culture of false accusation will not squander their talents or bank accounts. This will take a lot, most especially from the many women of goodwill in the staffrooms, but I believe they can come to the fore, for the sake of their pupils. It will take women teachers not to feel that their skills are being negated if men are given a break, for most of the women excel at their under-rated profession, and the uplifting of boys is, however unfashionable, not a threat to women or girls. In fact, it will clearly be a boon.

Most of all, however, we need the Labor Party to submit to an autohypocrisyectomy and to develop a touch of bipartisanship on this important issue, rather than playing political rugby with our children's lives. I believe the parents of Australia want what Brendan Nelson is proferring. As he (ptuii!!, munch! more honey!!!) himself found when for four years he was working on gender-related educational outcomes, travelling the country and meeting people, he had many mothers, in tears sometimes, pleading with him to help find a way to get male role models in the lives of their struggling sons. As a rule, I wouldn't believe a politician if they told me they were a liar. But Nelson has the ring of truth on this one, and it's long overdue.

Would someone please pass the lemon?

*Ø* Blogmanac April 7, 1593 | Sad Tale of the Witches of Warbois



On this day in 1593, the entire Samuel family of Warbois, Huntingdon, England, was executed on charges of witchcraft.

It was during the reign of Elizabeth I and witch mania was rife. The most important form of evidence in many of the witch trials was attained by 'ordeal'. These efforts included torture of the most horrific nature including hot pincers, the thumbscrew, the iron maiden, and many other such methods. These torture methods varied by region and the person carrying out the ordeal.

In Warbois, an imaginative and depressive girl named Joan Throgmorton, whose head was filled with stories of ghosts and witches, happened to pass the cottage of a physically unattractive and mentally backward old woman known as Mother Samuel. The old woman was sitting at her door, with a black cap upon her head, and, looking up from her knitting, she looked intently at Joan. The impressionable girl immediately fancied that she felt sudden pains in her arms and legs, and from that day on told her family and friends that Mother Samuel had bewitched her. Her sisters took up the cry, and actually frightened themselves into fits whenever they passed within sight of the unfortunate old woman.

Mr and Mrs Throgmorton, just as ignorant as their children, believed all the absurd tales they had been told; and Lady Cromwell, who used to gossip with Mrs Throgmorton determined to denounce the 'witch'. Lady Cromwell's husband Sir Samuel soon joined in the plot. Encouraged by adult complicity, the children gave loose reins to their imaginations and soon invented a whole host of evil spirits, which, they said, were sent by Mother Samuel to torment them continually. 'First Smack', 'Second Smack', 'Third Smack', 'Blue', 'Catch', 'Hardname' and 'Pluck' were the imaginative names of the worst of the spirits which, the girls alleged, were raised from hell by wicked Mother Samuel to throw them into fits; and as the children were actually subject to fits, the adults gave the more credit to the story.

The adults marched to the old woman's home and dragged her back into the Throgmorton's yard where Lady Cromwell tore the old woman's cap off her head, and plucking out a handful of her grey hair, gave it to Mrs Throgmorton to burn, as a charm which would preserve them all from her future wicked doings. Unsurprisingly, poor old Mrs Samuel let loose an involuntary curse upon her persecutors, and her curse was never forgotten. For more than a year, the families of Cromwell and Throgmorton continued to persecute her, alleging that her evil spirits afflicted them with pains and fits, turned the milk sour in their pans, and prevented their cows and ewes from bearing. Then, when Lady Cromwell was taken ill and died, it was remembered that her death had taken place exactly a year and a quarter since she was cursed by Mother Samuel, and that on several occasions she had dreamed of the witch and a black cat.

By now the whole neighbourhood had taken up the cry of witchcraft against Mother Samuel; her personal appearance, unfortunately for her, was the very ideal of what a witch ought to be, and increased the local fears and hatred ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 6, 1931 | The Scottsboro Boys trials begin

1931 USA: The first of the trials of the nine 'Scottsboro Boys' began at Scottsboro, Alabama before Judge EG Hawkins.

After a lynch mob gathered, the Alabama Governor, Benjamin Meeks Mille, was forced to call the National Guard to protect the jail. Milo Moody was appointed by the court to serve as defence counsel. Charlie Weems and Clarence Norris were declared 'guilty' by the jury. The great crowd assembled before the courthouse, surrounded by state troopers, staged a demonstration of approval with the band playing, 'There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight'. The others were found guilty over the next two days.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the International Labor Defense both took up the case, but the NAACP dropped the case in January, 1932. Despite the fact that a letter surfaced in which Ruby Bates denied that she was raped, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the convictions of seven of the Boys in March, 1932.

The nine African-American teenagers had been charged with the rape of two Caucasian girls, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, on the Southern Railroad freight run from Chattanooga to Memphis on March 25, 1931. It was a crime that never happened. In the words of writer Douglas O Linder, "Over the course of the two decades that followed, the struggle for justice of the 'Scottsboro Boys,' as the black teens were called, made celebrities out of anonymities, launched and ended careers, wasted lives, produced heroes, opened southern juries to blacks, exacerbated sectional strife, and divided America's political left."

The men were sentenced to death, despite the fact that one of the women later denied being raped. They were all eventually paroled, freed or pardoned, some after serving years of a prison sentence ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

Stress test, anyone?

A picture was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London.

Look at the two dolphins jumping out of the water.
Both dolphins are identical.

The researchers found that a person is under stress if he/she finds the two dolphins look any way different. If there are many differences found between the dolphins, it means that the person is experiencing a high level of stress.

So, if you find many differences between the dolphins, it's recommended that you stop work immediately, change into something comfortable, make a refreshing drink and put your feet up.

Click here to see dolphins

*Ø* Blogmanac | Preston to Twin with Nablus

Creative Solutions -- Peaceful Conflict Resolution

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE

RESPECT April 5


Respect councillor 'ecstatic' at Labour conversion

Preston's Respect councillor Michael Lavalette claimed he was 'ecstatic' at the news that Labour councillors in the town were discussing a motion to twin Preston with Nablus.

Cllr Lavalette led the twining proposal in October 2003 and at the time 13 Labour group members voted for the proposal. But now the Labour group will discuss a very similar proposal at their group meeting this Tuesday (6 April). If the group agrees they will present the proposal to council on 29 April.

Cllr Lavalette said: "This is great news. We are very pleased that the Labour group are debating whether to take a twinning motion to council. The motion is very similar to the one we debated before -- but with Labour group support it should go through. It will be a great victory for the twinning campaign if that happens.

I'm a bit disappointed that the Labour group have not talked to anyone in the twinning campaign -- and that they did not come to our cultural evening and educational display that was held in Noor Hall last Wednesday. But all converts to the Palestinian cause are welcome.

I'm sure some will say that Labour are worried about the local elections and their failure to fully support twinning before. But I think its great that they are coming on-board our campaign."

Mukhtar Master from Preston Stop the War and a leading campaigner for twinning said:

"We understand that John Collins, Labour group leader will propose the motion. At the end of last year he said this was mere 'gesture politics' but we are glad we have convinced him otherwise."


*******************************************************************

For newsdesk:

1. the origin twinning motion
2. The Labour group proposal
3. contact details


1. The original twinning proposal:

"We call on the council to undertake immediate steps to twin Preston with the city of Nablus on the Palestinian west bank"

2. The proposed motion from Labour:

' This council recognises the plight of the Palestinian people after over 35
years of illegal occupation by Israeli forces despite UN resolution and
international law. This council pledges itself:

1) To twin with Nablus without recourse to funding from Preston City Council
Tax payers.

2) To seek to use its powers to work with people of all faiths and to set up a
charity that will fund twinning with Nablus and provide humanitarian relief for
people of all faiths in Nablus, whether Christian, Muslem or Jew.

3) To look at how Preston City Council can use facilities that educate
Prestonians about the plight of people in the Occupied territories.

3. Contact details:

Cllr Michael Lavalette 07739729214

Sufia Makkan (Twinning campaign press officer) 07967094191

Mukhtar Master (Chair Preston Stop the War) 07956100786


--
i'n'i - Investigating the 'new' imperialism +44(0)7732-836-093
http://www.williambowles.info
"Always appear what you are" - Mary Wollstonecraft

*Ø* Blogmanac April 5, 1614 | Pocahontas: UnDisney



1614 The Marriage of Pocahontas

Pocahontas is known throughout the world, especially to Americans and Britishers, as an example of friendly relations between the races as well as an epitome of the Rousseauvian 'noble savage'.

Her images adorn Washington's Capitol building in portraits and friezes, and she has been a character in numerous dramas, beginning in the 17th century with Ben Jonson. In 1995, Walt Disney's studios made an animated movie of the famous Smith-Pocahontas tale, in which the native princess is portrayed as a rather voluptuous and beautiful woman. Her body is scarcely contained within a buckskin outfit that is not only split on both sides of its skirt, but is several inches shorter than the dresses of the other women in Disney's unhistorical Indian tribe.

We know that when Captain John Smith, 42, met her, Pocahontas was only 11 years old, and we also know that she did not resemble Disney’s ridiculous heroine. (There are numerous assertions on the Internet that Smith raped her and left her with a child, but I have found no verification of these.)

The only portrait known to have been made while she was alive was an etching made in England by Dutch engraver, Simon Van de Passe (used on an American stamp in 1907), prints of which were sold at the time to the curious. Over time, images of her (as in the case of Cleopatra) were beautified to suit contemporary tastes, but John Chamberlaine, a member of the English nobility, commented that she was "no fayre [beautiful] Lady".

On April 5, 1614, at Jamestown, Virginia, one of England’s earliest New World colonies, 18-year-old native Algonquin 'princess' Pocahontas married wealthy English tobacco planter, John Rolfe. Pocahontas was a nickname meaning 'naughty one' or 'spoiled child', her real name being Amonte (as she was known to her parents), or Matoaka, her clan name. She had already married an Indian warrior named Kocoum in 1610. Her aging father, the Mamanatowick (great chief) Powhatan, did not attend the wedding, although some relatives were there ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Odigo says workers were warned of 9/11

By Yuval Dror

"Odigo, the instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting the attack would happen, and the company has been cooperating with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to find the original sender of the message predicting the attack.

"Micha Macover, CEO of the company, said the two workers received the messages and immediately after the terror attack informed the company's management, which immediately contacted the Israeli security services, which brought in the FBI."

Continue here

*Ø* Blogmanac April 4 - 10 | Festival of Megalesia




Festival of Megalesia
(or Megalensia, Magna Mater, Ludi Megalenses)
of Cybele, (Apr 4 - 10), ancient Rome

Magna Mater (Cybele, 'the All-Begetting Mother, who beats a drum to mark the rhythm of life'), was the great mother and all other Roman goddesses may be seen as aspects of her. Earlier, the Greeks had identified her with the Titan goddess, Rhea.

This week-long festival was to celebrate the arrival in Rome of the idol of Cybele in 204 BCE. From 191 BCE, when Cybele’s temple had been completed, the great festivities began on this day and were celebrated for six days each year.

The prophetic Sybilline Oracles had advised that the stone of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess of mountains and fertility, must be brought to Rome to help bring about a victory against Hannibal the Carthaginian in what we now call the Second Punic War. So in 204, Cybele’s sacred black statue, which was a meteorite (to which the Romans later added a likeness of the goddess) from Pessinus in Anatolia (in modern Turkey), was shipped to Ostia. There, Scipio Nasica took custody of it and brought it to the city of Rome. On April 4, 204 BCE the ship bearing the idol ran aground at the mouth of the Tiber River.  

By prayer, Claudia Quinta, a vestal virgin, helped to release the grounded ship. Claudia, who had previously been falsely accused of breaking her holy vows, joined the throng that gathered at the ship, and, praying to Cybele, laid her hands on the ropes being employed to tow the foundering vessel. Although the crowd thought her mad, the ship came free of the mud, and Claudia and the goddess were brought to Rome in triumph. In the Middle Ages, Claudia was revered as the paragon of womanly virtue ... (More)

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac April 4, 1954 | Australia's Petrov Affair

1954 Soviet Union diplomat, Vladimir Petrov, defected to Australia, admitting he was a spy. Information supplied by Petrov and his wife, Evdokia, included details on British spies for the USSR, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean.

On April 13, conservative Prime Minister Robert Menzies informed Parliament of the defection and announced a Royal Commission into Soviet espionage in Australia. The Leader of the Labor Opposition, Dr HV Evatt, was one who attended the inquiry, with the purpose of exposing what he saw as a plot by PM Menzies.

Evatt’s behaviour at the commission was noted by many to be very strange, and eventually his leave to appear was withdrawn. (It is now widely acknowledged that Dr Evatt was suffering from early signs of mental illness.) Later, Justice Meagher of the New South Wales Court of Appeal observed in an address to the St James Ethics Centre, August 27, 1998:

"... Dr H. V. Evatt ... was the Chief Justice of New South Wales’ Supreme Court from 1960 to 1962. When he was appointed he was suffering from advanced senility. He plainly could not manage the job. He was old and ill, uncomprehending and inarticulate, incontinent and barking mad."

Evatt, whose distinguished career included being president of the United Nations General Assembly (1948), dismissed the Royal Commission’s report when it was handed down in October 1955, and rather foolishly went further. He told Parliament that Soviet Foreign Minister, Molotov had personally promised him that all claims about Soviet espionage in Australia were false. The House fell about laughing, Menzies saw his chance and called an election.

Evatt claimed it was Menzies politicking, and for many years some members of the Australian Labor Party continued the 1950s party line that there was no Soviet espionage in Australia, only Menzies's skill at working the electorate. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, this theory has been shown not to accord with the facts and has sharply declined in popularity.

The picture shows Mrs Edvokia Petrov, being 'escorted' by KGB goons to Macot Airport in Sydney, to fly her back to the USSR. Alerted by the press, an angry Australian crowd assembled at Sydney airport, shouting and threatening the guards who literally pushed Mrs. Petrov onto a BOAC Constellation. Eventually, she was taken off board at Darwin airport and able to remain in Australia. The Petrovs were set up by ASIO (Australia’s spy agency) as 'Sven and Maria Anna Allyson', and lived in Bentleigh, a suburb of Melbourne.


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush and Blair made secret pact for Iraq war


· Decision came nine days after 9/11
· Ex-ambassador reveals discussion

David Rose
Sunday April 4, The Observer

"President George Bush first asked Tony Blair to support the removal of Saddam Hussein from power at a private White House dinner nine days after the terror attacks of 11 September, 2001.

"According to Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to Washington, who was at the dinner when Blair became the first foreign leader to visit America after 11 September, Blair told Bush he should not get distracted from the war on terror's initial goal -- dealing with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

"Bush, claims Meyer, replied by saying: 'I agree with you, Tony. We must deal with this first. But when we have dealt with Afghanistan, we must come back to Iraq.' Regime change was already US policy.

"It was clear, Meyer says, 'that when we did come back to Iraq it wouldn't be to discuss smarter sanctions'. Elsewhere in his interview, Meyer says Blair always believed it was unlikely that Saddam would be removed from power or give up his weapons of mass destruction without a war.

"Faced with this prospect of a further war, he adds, Blair 'said nothing to demur'.

"Details of this extraordinary conversation will be published this week in a 25,000-word article on the path to war with Iraq in the May issue of the American magazine Vanity Fair. It provides new corroboration of the claims made last month in a book by Bush's former counter-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, that Bush was 'obsessed' with Iraq as his principal target after 9/11.

"But the implications for Blair may be still more explosive. The discussion implies that, even before the bombing of Afghanistan, Blair already knew that the US intended to attack Saddam next, although he continued to insist in public that 'no decisions had been taken' until almost the moment that the invasion began in March 2003. His critics are likely to seize on the report of the two leaders' exchange and demand to know when Blair resolved to provide the backing that Bush sought.

"The Vanity Fair article will provide further ammunition in the shape of extracts from the private, contemporaneous diary kept by the former International Development Secretary, Clare Short, throughout the months leading up to the war. This reveals how, during the summer of 2002, when Blair and his closest advisers were mounting an intense diplomatic campaign to persuade Bush to agree to seek United Nations support over Iraq, and promising British support for military action in return, Blair apparently concealed his actions from his Cabinet" ...

CONTINUE HERE

*Ø* Blogmanac | Some recent search terms that have found the Blogmanac

20 Nov, Thu, 22:51:40 Google: miracles of allah showing picture of half man half lizard
20 Nov, Thu, 23:47:14 Google: pictures of Arthur's oven in Scotland
25 Nov, Tue, 05:56:22 Yahoo: west los angeles chimney sweepers
26 Feb, Thu, 10:22:32 Google: enjoy squeezing blackheads
26 Feb, Thu, 10:27:18 Google: edward abbey alive today too close to town piss in your own front yard
03 Apr, Sat, 18:02:03 Google: australia pip slave

*Ø* Blogmanac April 3 - 29 | Go fly a kite today

Nagasaki Takoage, or Kite-Flying Event, Nagasaki, Japan

Tradition says a homesick Portuguese drew a map of his homeland and made a kite out of it, introducing kites to Japan.

Usually diamond-shaped kites are used in kite battles (tako-gassen), sometimes with sharp bits on strings to cut opponents’ kite strings. The festival is connected with the local Suwa Shrine. A procession of kites mounted on carts follows the contest.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | A Year After Iraq War



Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists

"A year after the war in Iraq, discontent with America and its policies has intensified rather than diminished. Opinion of the United States in France and Germany is at least as negative now as at the war’s conclusion, and British views are decidedly more critical. Perceptions of American unilateralism remain widespread in European and Muslim nations, and the war in Iraq has undermined America’s credibility abroad. Doubts about the motives behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism abound, and a growing percentage of Europeans want foreign policy and security arrangements independent from the United States. Across Europe, there is considerable support for the European Union to become as powerful as the United States ..."

Source: The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Washington, DC

*Ø* Blogmanac | "US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes"

Whistleblower the White House wants to silence speaks to The Independent

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
2 April

A former translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa'ida's plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened.

She said the claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such information was "an outrageous lie".

Sibel Edmonds said she spent more than three hours in a closed session with the commission's investigators providing information that was circulating within the FBI in the spring and summer of 2001 suggesting that an attack using aircraft was just months away and the terrorists were in place. The Bush administration, meanwhile, has sought to silence her and has obtained a gagging order from a court by citing the rarely used "state secrets privilege".

She told The Independent yesterday: "I gave [the commission] details of specific investigation files, the specific dates, specific target information, specific managers in charge of the investigation. I gave them everything so that they could go back and follow up. This is not hearsay. These are things that are documented. These things can be established very easily." ...

"President Bush said they had no specific information about 11 September and that is accurate but only because he said 11 September," she said. There was, however, general information about the use of airplanes and that an attack was just months away.

To try to refute Mr [Richard] Clarke's accusations, Ms Rice said the administration did take steps to counter al-Qa'ida. But in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on 22 March, Ms Rice wrote: "Despite what some have suggested, we received no intelligence that terrorists were preparing to attack the homeland using airplanes as missiles, though some analysts speculated that terrorists might hijack planes to try and free US-held terrorists."

Mrs Edmonds said that by using the word "we", Ms Rice told an "outrageous lie". She said: "Rice says 'we' not 'I'. That would include all people from the FBI, the CIA and DIA [Defence Intelligence Agency]. I am saying that is impossible."

It is impossible at this stage to verify Mrs Edmonds' claims. However, some senior US senators testified to her credibility in 2002 when she went public with separate allegations relating to alleged incompetence and corruption within the FBI's translation department.

FULL TEXT at Independent.co.uk

*Ø* Blogmanac April 2| Sizdeh Bedar, Iran



Sizdeh Bedar (SeezDeh BeDar, Sizdah Bedar), Dodging the 13th day of New Year, Iran
Also called Thirteenth Outside

The 13th day of the traditional Iranian New Year festival of Norouz (Vernal Equinox) is called Sizdeh Bedar. People go out in the nature in groups and spend all day outdoors in the nature in form of family picnics. It is a day of festivity in the nature, where children play and music and dancing is abundant. On this day, people throw their Sabze (green sprouts that they grew as one of the '7-seen' items) away in the nature as a symbolic act of making the nature greener.  
Unmarried girls, hoping to find a husband, tie a knot with blades of grass and make a wish for a good husband before the next Sizdeh Bedar. This knotting of the grass represents the bonding between of a man and a woman. Girls sing this song while knotting: 

Sizdah-Bedar sal-e deegar khooneh shoohar, bacheh baghal!
(Next Sizdah-Bedar, in my husband's home, holding a baby!)


The traditional Iranian festival of the New Year starts at the precise moment of the Vernal Equinox, as Spring ‘officially’ begins. Norouz has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years and is deeply rooted in the rituals and traditions of the Zoroastrian religion. The ancient Persians stained eggs red. Even today in remote areas of Iran, Moslems exchange scarlet eggs during the days of Ali in Ramadan.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Finucane delay raises concerns

The Irish Times:

"The [Irish] Government will continue to press for a judicial inquiry into the murder of Mr Pat Finucane despite the British government's decision to delay implementing a recommendation to do so by Judge Peter Cory. Dan Keenan and Joe Humphreys report.

"The decision to hold off on an inquiry, pending prosecutions and ongoing investigations, has put the two governments at odds and angered relatives, nationalist politicians and human rights groups.

"The controversy could upset relations between the Northern parties at a time when the governments want to push for agreement on the restoration of Stormont ...

"All but a few paragraphs from the Hamill, Nelson and Wright reports were published in full, but at least nine pages of the Finucane report were censored by the British government.

"Some of the judge's most damning comments related to the Special Branch and the FRU [British army undercover Force Research Unit] both of which were said to have allowed loyalist attacks, and to have obstructed the Stevens investigation into the Finucane murder."

Source and full text

*Ø* Blogmanac | 'Strong evidence' of collusion in Ulster killings

"there is strong evidence that collusive acts were committed by the army (FRU), the RUC SB [Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch] and the security service [MI5]"

Mark Oliver and agencies
The Guardian

"British army intelligence and the MI5 security service were criticised in reports published today into claims of security service collusion in four of the most controversial murders in Northern Ireland.

"A retired Canadian judge, Peter Cory, who was asked in 2001 by the British and Irish governments to investigate the case for public inquiries, says that he found 'strong evidence' of collusion.

"This comment is from the conclusion of his report into the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, which was published today alongside reports on the killings of the loyalist terrorist leader Billy Wright, Catholic civilian Robert Hamill and human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson.

"In all four cases he says he is 'satisfied that there is a need for a public inquiry'. In a move choreographed to coincide with the reports' publication, the government confirmed that four separate public inquiries would be held.

"In the conclusion of the Finucane report, Judge Cory writes that after looking at documents and statements 'there is strong evidence that collusive acts were committed by the army (FRU), the RUC SB [Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch] and the security service [MI5].'

"Finucane was shot dead in front of his family in his north Belfast home in February 1989. A West Belfast loyalist and alleged security force agent is due to stand trial in September.

"The Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, told the Commons that public inquiries would be set up as soon as possible into the Wright, Hamill and Nelson cases but that the inquiry into the Finucane case would be delayed until criminal prosecutions finish later this year.

"Finucane's widow, Geraldine, criticised the delay, saying: 'This was a very disappointing but expected statement. The British government continue to cover up the truth about the death of my husband with their delaying tactics.' The Irish government also issued a statement regretting the delay."

Source

Patrick Finucane was a prominent criminal defence and civil rights lawyer; his was one of the leading law firms in the 1980s in Northern Ireland acting in defence of those detained or charged under emergency legislation. He was instrumental in raising fair trial issues in the courts, arguing against practices which were in violation of international human rights standards.

Read about his killing, the evidence of collusion and cover-up at Amnesty International

*Ø* Blogmanac April 1, 2004 | George W Bush's change of heart: plans Peace 'Imaginatorium'

A Blogmanac exclusive: full text of speech that rocked the world

US President stuns world: "We must find alternatives to war"

2003 The plenary session of the Fiji Summit was attended by 4,700 delegates who enjoyed the brilliant fireworks display put on for the occasion by the people of Jordan. After a moving rendition of Peace on Earth by several hundred international stars from the music world, to which the thousands of delegates sang along, President Bush's inspired television address to the world [excerpts below] was watched by the delegates and an estimated world audience of four billion people.

At the invitation of US President George W Bush, representatives of 190 countries had met in the South Pacific nation of Fiji for theinaugurall Global Peace Imagination Summit. All the nations present pledged just 10 per cent of their defence budgets to fund Bush's new brainchild, the Global Peace Imaginatorium. Although the pledges are a mere fraction of national war chests, the resulting peace foundation is already bigger than any one institutional, business or national entity in the world. Pundits said that its very size will help protect it from pressures from the enormous world armaments industry.

Washington sources say that the purpose of the multi-trillion dollar institute will be to solicit from citizens of the world ideas for alternatives to war in cases in which conflicts arise. Suggestions, whether from professional conflict resolution practitioners, diplomats, academics, or ordinary citizens, are to be rewarded with cash disbursements. Every suggestion will be rewarded, and is then eligible for entry to higher levels of reward according to the judgement of panels of democratically elected representatives from all nations.

President Bush stunned the world with his televised address to the world, for which his government had set aside 25 billion dollars of armaments purchase money to promote, so scarcely a man, woman or child in the world did not know about the Summit nor Mr Bush's speech. His opening remarks brought gales of laughter from the floor of the Summit. "I know a lot of people in the media think I'm nuts. Maybe you think I'm nuts," he said with a grin.

"Some members of my White House inner circle think I'm a bit nuts, too. Especially now.

"But ladies and gentleman, I don't think I've ever been so sane in my life! [Applause] The human race has chosen war as a means of settling disputes for thousands of years, and it's time is over. It not only hasn't solved anything, but its consequences have gotten far worse. It's over. Finis. Kaput!

"A hundred years ago," he told the now silent crowd, "when armies collided in battle, about 10 per cent of the casualties were civilian and 90 per cent were combatants. Today, it's the other way round. The whole nature of warfare has changed, and no longer can we believe that the people who die or get burned and maimed in battle might in some way have to accept responsibility for their own actions. Today, the innocent are the main victims. Not only that, but our generals now sit in comfortable air-conditioned offices, nowhere near the field of battle, and make decisions on the deployment of weapons whose unspeakably tragic consequences they will never see, and that our grandparents could never have conceived of – weapons that can level vast areas of civilisation in one moment. We know in our hearts the difference between right and wrong, and this is wronggentlemen and getlemen, this is wrong.

"My friends," President Bush continued, "for a long time I myself mistakenly believed that war is all right. That it's OK. That it's 'patriotic'. I suppose it is because I had never been in one, who knows. Maybe it was just the culture I was brought up in, the movies and TV shows I watched and the books I read as a kid. Whatever the reason, like so many people, I had never really thought 'outside the square'. I saw some nation do something I didn't like, and I automatically thought of war as a solution.

"Then something big happened, ladies and gentlemen, and even now it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. One night about ten days ago, I woke up at about 3 o'clock in the morning in a cold sweat, with some realizations running through my head – and I don't even quite know how to explain it, but somehow I knew that if we just tried to do things differently, we would actually do it. Suddenly I trusted people again. I trusted that people could solve the problems of people – and do it fast. All that was needed was the will, a bit of money, and the encouragement of leaders. I thought, how can I even call myself a leader if I do not lead people into something new and better?

"I said to the First Lady, 'You know, I've been wrong. Almost all of us have been wrong. For thousands of years, we've all beeen wrong. And as President of the USA, I'm gonna come right out and say I was wrong. That we all have to do things differently, totally differently, from now on. No one else has as much of a chance to turn things around as me today, and I'm not going to squander this chance.' Laura looked at me a bit funny [audience laughs] but I think she knew deep down that something profound had happened to my thinking, and maybe I was right. Maybe together, human beings could do it.

"Men and women of the world, I'm here tonight to tell you I was wrong: War is not the solution!"

"Men and women of the world, I'm here tonight to tell you I was wrong: War is not the solution!" President Bush paused at this point for 90 seconds of thunderous clapping. Following several minutes more of his speech, his concluding remark, met again with sustained applause that ended in a standing ovation, were these words, heard by two-thirds of the world's population:

"Men and women of Planet Earth: We can do this. We can put people on the moon, we can build the Internet, we can spend trillions and trillions of dollars on frivolous and evil things. Many nations represented tonight in this auditorium, including my own, can build – have built – weapons of mass destruction that can destroy the world many times over. Yet millions of people are starving and have no access to clean water. We have to stop this now; we can't say 'it's how things should be because they always were'. Enough is enough! We have the technology to do almost anything we can imagine.

"From this night onwards, we also have the technology of this wonderful Global Peace Imaginatorium to begin to help us clear the fog from our minds. Because, ladies and gentlemen, it is only our lack of imagination, and the fog in our minds, that has kept humankind in this tragic cycle of suffering since time began. Now we will make it an honor for a human being to come up with solutions, just as we will make it a disgrace to use the old methods and to be stuck in old thinking, like I was.

"The Imaginatorium will not stop war and create a new world, but it will foment ideas on how to do this – ideas that have been lacking. Ideas that no leader has ever before thought of asking you to think up. (I don't take the credit for this. Laura says it was the pizza I ate before going to bed.) [Laughter]

"My friends of all nations, all creeds and all races: now, having realized my own past errors of thought, I ask you to join with me to eradicate what is obsolete from our minds. Because it all comes from our minds. I know that now. As John Lennon and Yoko Ono put it so well way back when, "War is over. If you want it."

[Standing ovation]